Mood Swing
by CleoArrow
Summary: Raven's emotions are in control of her body, so someone must go into her mirror to find out what's going on, and the unwilling volunteer is... Beast Boy! Beast Boy/Raven
1. Out-of-Character

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos" Hovered above a floating rock with closed eyes, Raven was indulged in deep meditation. She took even, relaxing breaths, her arms held out beside her in their typical position she used while emptying her mind. Tranquil, she repeated her mantra, and the feeling of calm washed over her. She'd endured a particularly stressful day so far, and the clock hadn't even yet struck noon. The moment she exited her room that morning, Starfire was by her side, asking if Raven would sample some of her planet's delectable delicacies she had attempted to recreate using earthly elements. After having politely declined and slipping away into the main room, Raven was confronted by Cyborg and Robin, both who wanted her to join in a video game showdown with them. She turned the two boys down, stating that she just wanted to drink her herbal tea. Their yelling and over-exaggerated button mashing set her on edge, and what at last pushed her over it was when Beast Boy appeared and shoved a plate of tofu under her nose, insisting that she try it for once instead of replying with some sarcastic comment. In response, Raven promptly flipped the tofu onto Beast Boy's head without the mocking retort he'd wished to avoid, and stomped off to her bedroom. All the things she had endured were already adding up to the need for an early meditation.

Now, Raven felt none of the irritation she'd tolerated before. Despite the frustrating start to her day, she felt much calmer after a few minutes alone in her meditation mirror. She inhaled once more, the emptiness of space suspended around her familiar and comforting.

"Hello Raven!" someone greeted cheerfully. "Whatcha doing?"

Raven didn't move, blocking out all sound and ignoring whoever might be trying to get on her nerves this time. The person in front of her tilted her head with interest, and then turned around to look at a small group of others who were lingering in the background. The person shrugged her shoulders and tried again. "Meditating, are ya? That's kind of boring, don't you think?" they asked with a laugh.

"No," Raven replied brusquely.

"Aw, but Raven," the person whined, levitating and crossing her legs in the air. "Why aren't we out having more _fun_ with our friends? They all seemed like they wanted to do stuff with us. Take advantage of it!"

"They all spent time irritating me this morning," Raven retorted, still keeping her eyes shut. "I've had enough excitement."

"But we've got nothing to do!" The person gestured to behind her at the cloaked group who was hovering nearby. "You never do anything except sit around and meditate or read anymore!" She grabbed Raven by the shoulders. "We're _dying_ of boredom here! Help us out, Raven!"

"No," Raven answered.

"Raven, please!" the person begged, her voice layering with other, identical ones. She leaned closer with an imploring expression.

"Let me think. No."

"Come on! Raven!"

"Leave me alone."

"_Please _Raven!"

Raven at last opened her glowing white eyes, angry for the disruption during her meditation. "For the last time, I told you-!"

In her bedroom, Raven's mirror suddenly jerked from where it lay on her dresser and flew across the room, landing face-up on her mattress. An explosion of red and black magic burst from the glass and swirled into a whirlwind until it had formed a spinning vortex. Raven emerged, collapsing onto the carpeted ground with a heavy thud, and the vortex sucked itself back into the mirror. Raven didn't move at first, just stayed still on the carpet breathing in silence. Soon she sat up, and, blinking, placed a hand to her head. In due time Raven got to her feet and swung her head around, looking at her room with wide eyes as if she was seeing something she hadn't before. Catching notice of the mirror that lay atop her bed, Raven approached with care and took the magical item in her hands. She ran her ashen thumb over the edge of mirror, a broad grin spreading across her face. Placing the mirror back on her dresser again, Raven darted over to her closet and began digging through the clothes. "Aw, what?" she sighed after a minute, stepping back. "There seriously is nothing pink in here?"

* * *

"Greetings and good tidings my friends, but has anyone seen friend Raven around recently? I would like her to try the meal which I have prepared." With a bowl of alien food in her arms, Starfire flew over to Robin and Cyborg who were both pounding on their video game controllers viciously. Robin was in first place at the moment, his red car zipping around digital obstacles on the television screen.

He shook his head. "Sorry Star, not since this morning." Cyborg nodded in agreement, taking advantage of a nearby ramp to soar over the other cars and land in a close lead just ahead of Robin. Grinning, he pressed hard on the gas, Robin's determined car right behind him. Leaving them to their game, Starfire approached Beast Boy. The shape-shifter was sat down at the kitchen table, trying to remove the clumps of tofu stuck in his hair.

"Friend Beast Boy, have you perhaps conversed recently with friend Raven?" Starfire asked, stopping next to the green boy.

Beast Boy huffed, tugging a chunk of the white food off of his head. "The last I saw her, she was blowing up my breakfast in my face. Again." He winced, untangling more tofu from his green hair, and chucked it into the trash. Starfire sighed, placing the bowl that she'd held in her arms on the table. Finished with his task, Beast Boy jumped as her dish gurgled at him.

"Where can our friend be?" she wondered, resting her head in her hand. "I hope that I did not cause her to be angry with me somehow."

"Star," Beast Boy said, watching her bowl tip over and the contents gradually begin to drag itself across the table, "if anyone has made her mad, I think it'd be me. The evidence is right here." He pointed to his head, where small traces of tofu could still be seen hiding under his green locks. Starfire still seemed to be disheartened, so much that she didn't notice her meal had all but crawled away, and so Beast Boy put a hand on her shoulder. "Tell you what, Star; you and I will go to Raven's room and see if she's in there. I'll apologize for… whatever it was that I did," he said, as usual clueless to why he had made Raven angry, "and you can show her your… 'meal'."

Starfire's eyes lit up and she nodded. Beast Boy had gotten to his feet and was waiting for Starfire to find and wrestle down her dish when the one person they'd been about to go look for strolled in. Hood pulled down, Raven entered the main room, walking in the strangest manner any of the Titans had seen come from her. Swinging her arms back and forth like a child, Raven approached her teammates with a skip in her step and a wide grin on her face. Beast Boy was too puzzled by her actions to do anything, but the moment Starfire caught sight of her friend, she glided over to her with the bowl of squirming goo.

"Greetings friend Raven!" she greeted, smiling. "Would you perhaps be in 'the mood,' as you say, to try the dish that I have prepared now, or are you angry with me?"

Raven looked at her with curious interest. "Why would I be angry?"

"So… You are in the 'good mood' then?" Starfire asked, tilting her head.

"I'm in a _great_ mood!" Raven exclaimed, floating in the air for a moment. "And I promise to try your food later, but first I want to greet my other friends!" She squealed, swooping down to join her teammates. Starfire, though having noticed Raven's behavior being noticeably lighter than usual, was just glad that her friend had agreed to try her meal.

The other Titans, however, were perplexed, not to mention a little worried. Robin and Cyborg paused their game the moment they heard Raven agree to eat Starfire's alien food. No one on the team ever volunteered to try her meals. In fact, most of the time they were finding excuses as to why they were _unable_ to eat the food. Raven glided over to the two boys who were leaning back against the couch.

"Hi guys!" she exclaimed, grinning broadly.

Robin and Cyborg exchanged glances. The smile was strange enough, but Raven was actually greeting them? Most of the time she just walked in and out without a word unless someone else took the initiative and spoke to her first. "Uh, hi, Raven," Robin replied, cautious. "Did you just… _squeal_ a few seconds ago?"

"What's up?" Raven asked, ignoring the leader's question and leaning backwards over the couch to stare up at the T.V. screen. Cyborg narrowed his eyes, her words having triggered a memory that he couldn't quite place. "Ooo, a video game? Cool!" Raven cried, like past few years she'd lived with the Titans she hadn't seen Beast Boy, Cyborg, or Robin playing the game station or even been aware that it was there. "Who's winning?"

"Cool?" Cyborg repeated, disbelieving that those words had just escaped from Raven's mouth.

Robin stood up, approaching her. "Are you feeling alright, Raven?" he asked, concerned. "You seem… different."

"I'm wonderful!" Raven replied joyously, throwing her arms out to her sides. "Never been better!" All of a sudden, she paused, running her gaze over Robin. "Whoa," she observed with bright violet eyes. "You're a lot shorter in real life. I mean, I know you've been taller than me, but I never realized how short _I _am!" She punched him in the shoulder, grinning. "Makes me wonder how either of us can get on any of the rides at amusement parks, right?! Not that I ever really go, but you know what I mean, don'tcha Robin?!" Robin blinked, unable to process what he was hearing. He was saved from having to give a response when Raven turned to Cyborg, who was sitting confused on the couch.

"And Cyborg! It's been too long since I've seen you, guy!" she cried, putting her hands on his shoulders from behind. "You should visit more often! It would make my day!"

"U-Uh… What?" Cyborg stammered. "Didn't I just see you this morning…?"

Raven laughed at him. "In a way." She frowned thoughtfully, as if she was trying to remember something, and then whirled around, fixing her sight on Beast Boy. Her eyes lit up. "BB!" Before anyone could react, she swept him up in an enormous hug. The air rushed out of Beast Boy's chest for a moment, and then she placed him on the ground. Not removing her arms from his shoulders, she leaned back. "I think you've gotten taller! That's great! Learn any new jokes yet?" Beast Boy's answer was to gasp for breath, his face entirely scarlet. Raven giggled at his lack of response, releasing him, and faced Starfire. "Okay Star, I'll try your food thing now!"

Her words snapping him out of it, Beast Boy placed a hand on Raven's shoulder, preventing her from going over to the alien princess, and fought the blush in his cheeks. Under normal circumstances, Raven never would have allowed him to touch her unless it was necessary, but now the girl gave Beast Boy no indication that he should remove his hand. "O-okay Raven," he said as she faced him with a bright smile, "what's the game you're playing at here? Is this to get back at us for this morning or what? Why are you being so… so…?" What was the word he was looking for? Out-of-character? Hyperactive? Juvenile? Elated? Lacking the vocabulary to come up with any of those words, Beast Boy finished lamely with…"Happy?"

"Because I am, silly!" she giggled.

Leaving Beast Boy feeling utterly baffled -which wasn't actually that unusual for him- Robin moved toward the dark girl. "Be serious, Raven," he said, faintly thinking that he had never expected to say those words to Raven of all people. He crossed his arms, analyzing the situation as only a young detective could. "You're smiling, laughing, and _hugging_ even." He began to pace around her, putting a hand to his chin as he studied the girl. "You look the same as Raven, wear the same outfit, and your voice is even identical to hers, but your personality is entirely different." He stopped. "Who are you?"

Raven grinned, tilting her head to the side. "I'm Raven."

Cyborg fell off of the couch, drawing everyone's attention to him. He quickly stood up, embarrassed, but in too much of a rush to care. "You're happy!" he exclaimed, gawking at Raven.

"Uh, dude, Cyborg," Beast Boy interrupted, glancing at him. "We kind of already know that. We're trying to figure out _why_ though." Raven cracked up, placing her hand on her head. Beast Boy stared at her in shock, and then everything clicked into place. Backing away, his mouth dropped open. "You are Happy!" he cried, pointing at her with his green eyes wide.

"You'd better believe that I am!" Raven, or now as the Titans knew to be Happy, hooted with laughter, smacking Beast Boy's on the shoulder fondly. Robin was perplexed.

Starfire, seeing no problem as to why "Raven" was so merry, flew over to her friends. "Would you maybe now like to try my dish, friend?" she asked, holding her bowl out. Happy was about to oblige when Robin stopped her.

Glancing at Starfire, he apologized, "Sorry Star, but we're going to need to have Raven hold off from doing anything else until this can be resolved." Addressing his other team members, he asked, "Would someone like to inform me as to what exactly is happening?"

"Naw," Happy smirked, "I like it so much better this way!" Somehow finding her words funny, she laughed, and then, making airplane sounds with her mouth, held her arms out to the sides and pretended to fly over to the couch. Robin lifted an eyebrow, facing Cyborg and Beast Boy with an expression that was plain to read.

"Explain," he stated.

"Okay," Cyborg began with a glance at Raven who was now inspecting the video game controller with excitement, "so you know that time we disappeared into Raven's room for a few hours several years ago?" Robin nodded, recalling how impatient Starfire had been to check on Raven during that time to see if she was alright. He'd certainly been shocked when Raven, along with Beast Boy and Cyborg, had emerged from her room. While years had passed since that day, the leader had never been told what occurred amongst the three, though he had noticed a bond form between the trio afterwards. He didn't ask why; he wasn't one to pry into other's business unless he felt it was necessary. "Well," Cyborg continued, exchanging a look with Beast Boy, "when we were in her room, this guy right here accidentally got us pulled into a mirror that was a portal into her mind. We found out later that she uses it for meditation." Robin lifted an eyebrow, following so far despite the enormity of the information. "Inside, we met several versions of her that weren't really Raven; they were different versions of her. Her emotions. We met four face-to-face, but I'm sure there were a lot we hadn't encountered." Cyborg pointed to the emotion who was on the couch. "That one is Happy. When we first met her, we were… upside-down you could say. She acts like a hyper child all the time and likes to make jokes. Kinda like Beast Boy," he smirked, elbowing the frowning shape-shifter. "We also saw Timid, Brave, and Rage."

Beast Boy shuddered at the last one. "You don't want to come cross Rage in a dark alley."

Cyborg scratched his head, thinking. "The way you can usually tell them apart is by their cloaks, which were different colors when we met last time, but I'm not sure why Happy isn't wearing pink right now."

Robin was trying to understand the facts they were giving him. "So, they are all parts of Raven's personality?" Cyborg and Beast Boy nodded. "Then what is this one doing out here?" he asked, jerking a thumb at Happy. The two boys shrugged, causing Robin to frown. "Could it have to do with the mirror that you mentioned?"

"Mirror?" Everyone jumped when Happy popped up from behind the Titans without warning. She looked at them curiously, the bright light in her eyes never fading. "Why do you want to look into the mirror? I can tell you how you all look right now without using that old thing!" she said, giggling.

"Where's the real Raven?" Robin demanded.

Happy pouted. "You're no fun when you're all serious, Robin. That's why this guy's funnier!" She crossed her arms and leaned on Beast Boy's shoulder, poking the tip of his ear with her index finger. Beast Boy ran a hand through his hair, flushed.

"Come on, Happy," Cyborg urged. "We just want you to tell us where the real Raven is. That's not so hard to do, is it?"

Happy shrugged, thinking it over with the ceaseless smile still on her face. "I guess not!" She levitated, crossing her legs in the air. "The mind of the original Raven is in her mirror, but I'm the one in control of her body right now."

"And how do we get her out?" Cyborg implored, trying to get more information out of Happy before she was distracted again.

"Aw, but there's no fun in that! You'll just make everything go back to normal, and I won't get to stay out here anymore! I never get the chance to just get out and actually feel the world! Like that couch!" Happy gestured to the sofa. "I never knew how soft it was! I'm surprised Raven doesn't sit on it more! Or those controllers! Those things are so cool, but she never plays those things! Or that counter! It's so… counter-y!"

"Right…"

Robin sighed, putting a hand to his forehead. He felt like he was dealing with a clone of Beast Boy. "Can you please concentrate here? How do we get Raven out?"

Happy frowned thoughtfully. "Well, you could always go back into the mirror to pull her out, but that could take a long time." She shrugged. "But that's the one way I can think that might work, so that would be your best bet!"

Robin nodded, grateful she was at last focusing. "Good. So we all go in and get her out."

"Ehhhh," Happy said, doubtful, and Robin turned his attention to her. She grinned. "I think that only one of you should go into the mirror. There's a lot of stuff going on in here," she stated, tapping her head, "especially since I'm in control of Raven's body entirely right now, and if too much changes, the mirror might crack and then you would never get out! Besides, you'll need as many people as possible to watch over whoever else is going to show up throughout the rest of the day!"

"Hang on," Cyborg interrupted, stepping up to her. "Whoever else is going to show up? What do you mean?"

Happy laughed. "Well, I'm not going to be in charge of Raven's body all day! There are other emotions brewing in her head, and they all want a turn to get out! This kind of opportunity doesn't come up for us much: never in fact! So, during the day you'll probably be encountering most of Raven's other emotions; like me, except not as fun! Especially not Rage," she giggled. Beast Boy's ears drooped at the conjured image in his head of Rage escaping into the Tower and destroying everything. Everyone's sleeping quarters, the main room, even the island itself might be wrecked. The only good thing to come out of it would be if the training course was demolished; Beast Boy hated exercising on that thing, especially since Robin continued to make the team practice with it during early morning hours. Still, bad things would happen if Rage was in control of Raven for a long time; Beast Boy had seen it before. The only difference would be that they couldn't just snap her out of it because Raven wasn't there to restrain the angry emotion. "Raven's not going to be back in control for a while either. Unless something happens, of course," Happy smiled.

"Which means that one of us has to go in your head," Robin deduced, tapping his elbow with a finger as he thought. He paused. "But won't we have to worry about your powers running amuck throughout the day?"

"Nope!" Happy replied, adjusting her position in the air. "We -each emotion- are ourselves when we're in control, and if I'm Happy, then that's who I am. My power can't get out of control if I don't have any other emotions to feel!"

"That makes some level of sense," Robin said, adding beneath his breath, "I guess." He continued, louder. "At least that's one more thing we don't have to worry about."

"That doesn't mean we can't _use_ our powers though," Happy reminded, pointing at him. "It's just more of a matter of choice now! We can still make stuff explode if we want, and not all the emotions will be as cooperative as me!" She giggled, a small puff of magic shooting up from her palm in the form of a mushroom cloud.

"This is cooperative?" Cyborg asked himself.

"Great," Beast Boy muttered. He was always walking on a thin line when it came to Raven wanting to destroy him normally; what would it be like if he upset an emotion like Brave by accident? Or worse, Rage? His friends wouldn't even be able to find the leftover ash from his remains. Then again, he noted with a small blush, Happy seemed to have taken a liking to him. Maybe he would have a better chance than the others if he went in Raven's head in their place. Beast Boy snapped back to reality. Robin was asking who thought they should go in the mirror.

"I wish to go into the mirror to rescue our friend Raven," Starfire volunteered. She wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but she knew that Raven needed help and the alien princess was more than willing to go into danger for her friend's behalf.

"No," Robin said, knowing how little Starfire understood, but respecting her selfless bravery to help her friend. "It's too dangerous. I'll go instead," he offered, stepping forward.

"No way, man," Cyborg vetoed, cutting Robin off. "I think in the very least it should be someone who has gone into her head before. Meaning me. Someone else might get lost or confused." He looked at Robin, and the leader nodded, seeing the logic behind Cyborgs words.

Beast Boy had just tuned in. "Whoa, dudes, what about me?! I want to help Raven too!" The Titans exchanged glances, doubtful. Beast Boy had a bad habit of breaking things, and while toasters and T.V. remotes could be fixed without much of a problem, damaging someone's mind could be fatal. Beast Boy recognized their reluctance and threw his arms out to his sides with frustration. "Come on! I'll be super careful! I went into her head before and she was fine!"

"I'm sorry, Beast Boy," Robin sighed, placing a hand on the shape-shifter's shoulder. "I know you just want to help, but I don't think we should take the chance. Someone's mind isn't something you can mess around with." Cyborg and Starfire nodded in agreement.

"Bu-but I won't mess around!" Beast Boy promised, putting his hand over his heart. "I'll be a big help! Come on!" When he saw the hesitant expression's on everyone's faces, he cried, "At least can we put it to a vote?! All for me going into the mirror raise your hands!" He threw his hand in the air. His heart sank when no one else corresponded, and, dropping his arm, mumbled, "I'm not even going to ask who's opposed." Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire each gave him apologetic expressions.

"I am truly sorry, friend Beast Boy," Starfire expressed her regret, "but Cyborg does seem to be the better choice."

Cyborg smirked. "You'll be able to hang out with her all day here until I get back anyway, man. Besides, how do you think she would like it if you went into her head again without her permission? I think she'd be more forgiving to me than you." Beast Boy grumbled as Cyborg faced Happy. "So, is there anything I need to wear for protection before I go in the mirror?"

Happy had been watching the whole discussion without a word, though the wide smile never left her face. She put a finger to her chin, thinking. "Oh yeah, there is one thing!" she recalled. "You'll need a sparkly pink cloak to enter the mirror." When Cyborg looked at her, disbelieving, she shrugged. "Don't believe me? Well, go in if you want and explain why you didn't wear it to the guardian statues," she smirked, cracking up with laughter. After a minute, she calmed enough to explain herself. "It's got to do with the cloaks, big guy. Just trust me on this."

"Why didn't I have to wear one when I went inside before?" Cyborg asked, still skeptical. He didn't want to wear anything pink if he had to, not to mention if it was sparkly. Maybe he _should_ let Beast Boy go instead of him, he deliberated.

"Those statues attacked you then, didn't they?" Happy reminded, playing with her cloak absentmindedly. "You can take the chance to encounter them again without the right outfit if you want, but Brave might not be there to save you this time!" Cyborg swallowed and, facing Robin and Starfire, headed off to find a pink, sparking cloak that was sure to make him the laughing stock of the Titan's Tower. As the robotic teenager set off to do a task that he looked forward to with much distaste, Robin explained the situation to Starfire. The alien princess was more than confused to what was happening, and Robin couldn't blame her. While the three Titans were distracted, Happy approached Beast Boy who was moping in the corner of the kitchen away from the others. He had really wanted to help Raven, but none of the Titans trusted him enough to go into her mind. Could he blame them though? He was accident-prone half –if not most– of the time. He doubted he would even let himself into his own head if the opportunity came up. Beast Boy was trying to figure out if that was ironic or not when Happy suddenly grabbed his hand.

"Come with me, BB," she whispered, her playful smile widening. Before Beast Boy could object, she pulled him out of the main room, and within moments they were standing inside of Raven's bedroom. Happy released him, approaching her dresser. "I was thinking; if anyone is going to have to go inside of Raven's head, the best choice would probably be you," she said, picking up the small mirror in her slim hand.

"Uh, what?" Beast Boy asked, dumbfounded.

She laughed at him, glancing over her shoulder. "You look so funny when you're confused, BB. But of course!" she continued, facing the shape-shifter straight on. "You're more fun than the rest. I think the other emotions will have a lot better time with you than they would with Cyborg."

Beast Boy's brain at last caught up with what she was saying. "You're sending me instead of Cyborg?" Happy giggled in response, nodding. "But what happens if I break something by accident?! I don't want to crack Raven's mind or anything! I'm really good at messing up!" he insisted.

Happy smiled, playful. "But you're good at fixing it, aren't you? You won't break anything," she assured, shoving the mirror into his hands.

A thought crossed Beast Boy's mind. "Wait, don't I need a cloak before I go in?" he asked quickly before anything could appear to pull him into the mirror. The statues had been more than terrifying the first time, and Beast Boy didn't want to face them again unless he had protection, no matter how sparkling or pink it might be.

Laughing, Happy shook her head. "That was just a little wild goose chase for Cyborg to go on. It won't do anything except give me a good laugh," she admitted. Beast Boy cracked a smile, thinking that the Raven he knew would almost never do something like that. Even with her new joyous attitude, Happy still had Raven's cunning. Happy grinned at him. "You'll be able to get out the same way you left last time, but you'll have to find Raven first," she advised Beast Boy. "She is the only one who is able to open or close the gateway."

Beast Boy looked at the mirror in his hand and then back at the emotion standing in front of him. "Thanks," he acknowledged her. "I promise I'll be careful. If I'm lucky, this will only take a few minutes." Of course, it was rare that the Titans were lucky when it came to unordinary situations like this.

Happy winked at him. "Have fun!" The mirror in Beast Boy's hands glowed red, and a large black claw extended from the glass, snatching him up and pulling the alarmed shape-shifter through the portal into Raven's mind. All was quiet in a moment, and after placing the mirror back on the dresser, Happy turned her head to the door where she knew the three other Titans would enter through soon. She couldn't wait to see how _happy_ they'd be once they discovered that Raven's mind was already occupied by a certain green hero instead of a sparkling pink Cyborg.

* * *

**Hi everyone! This story is a result of the voting of a poll on my page. I don't know how much longer the poll will be up there, but keep voting while it is! I might start another Teen Titans story while working on Mood Swing depending on if I get more votes.**

**Please review! I'd like to know what you think of this chapter, and if you have any ideas or suggestions for future chapters, I would really appreciate them. Thanks!**


	2. Big Words

**Wow, I didn't expect so many followers already! It just makes me want to keep updating, so here's your next chapter! Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

"Waaaah!" Beast Boy tumbled head-over-heels through the vortex, crashing headfirst onto a craggy rock. Dust settled around him as he sat up, rubbing his head where he'd hit. Like the last time, he was stunned by the landing, but uninjured. Wondering if gravity had different rules in Raven's mind, he got to his feet, brushing off the ashen dirt that clung to his pants.

"Okay," he said to himself, "now that I'm in Raven's mind, where am I supposed to start looking for her? Isn't this place like super huge or something, and filled with emotions and monsters and mazes and…?" He trailed off, catching sight of the world around him. The sky was still dark with red-tinged planets in the background, but instead of a stumble-around-blindly-in-the-dark black, it was more of a heavy indigo color. In the distance, the planets' red atmosphere was softer, rather a glow instead of the intimidating sharp crimson that had surrounded them before. However, these changes were no more than subtle, too faint for someone of Beast Boy's quick attention span to notice. It was the place where the path of floating rocks in front of him led that had pulled his concentration away from his words. On the center of an island hovering in space was an enormous golden building constructed out of dulled bricks. With the base a square frame, it covered a wide section of the rock, and Beast Boy wondered how the sheer weight of the structure didn't cause the island to dip or sink. Again, the question if gravity had different rules here crossed his mind. It seemed that way, especially once he recalled the first time he'd met Happy. She had somehow flipped the whole world upside down then.

Shaking his head in reminder to focus on the task at hand, Beast Boy walked down the path toward the golden building. He thought it would be as good a place as any to start looking as long as there were no crows or statues trying to kill him once there. It took him but a minute to reach the brick structure and find the metal door that led inside. With a slight hesitation, he rapped his knuckles on the door. Inside the building he could almost hear the echo that his knock had created. Thirty seconds passed, and being the impatient boy that he was, Beast Boy banged again on the wall. When there was no reply, he pushed on the door, which swung open much to his surprise. Not really thinking the consequences of his actions through, he took a step inside of the structure.

The daylight from the open doorway was the single thing that illuminated the dark interior, proceeding to send a shiver down Beast Boy's spine. As far as the light stretched over the floor he could see tile fading into shadows, and the walls were so high that he couldn't glimpse the ceiling. The air was cold and smelled like old leather. Beast Boy began to edge along the walls, feeling for a light switch.

"There's gotta be something here," he muttered to himself. "Even Raven needs to see, no matter how much she likes the dark." His fingers brushed against something, and he flicked his fingers against what he believed to be a light switch. A scratching sound was heard, like rough wood scraping tile. Before Beast Boy could correct himself, the unknown object tilted over and made deafening contact with the ground. As the item crashed loudly onto the hard floor, Beast Boy leapt back, cringing at the sound. He swallowed. Whatever that might be in the building, if they hadn't been aware of his presence before, they without doubt would be now.

"Heh," he laughed, his nerves getting the best of him. "Sorry about that," he apologized to the air, trying to sneak away from the unknown broken object. "I'll just be going now. No worries. I'm just backing out slowly. Won't see me in here again." Beast Boy was a nervous talker, which more often than not worked against him when it came to trying to creep away from his mistakes. He sighed to himself. "Dude, I've been in Raven's head for five minutes and already broke something. Happy really shouldn't have sent me in here." Glancing over his shoulder, he realized to his relief that he was almost to the exit, but the shape-shifter had scarcely taken another step when the door swung shut without any assistance, leaving him in utter darkness. In the distance, a small flicker of light appeared, making its way in Beast Boy's direction at a steady pace. Trapped by his lack of vision, Beast Boy's imagination went into hyper drive, and he could only visualize the horrible sort of ghosts or monsters that had it in for him. The glow of the light drew closer without delay, and Beast Boy found himself cowering on the ground in the fetal position as it reached position a few feet from him.

"I'm sorry!" he cried, holding his hands out above him for protection. "It was an accident! Please don't kill me!" The light floated close, hovering in the air above him. A shadowy figure appeared from within the gloom, drawing close, and stretched out to Beast Boy. He had all but passed out from fear when the figure -reaching above him- touched the wall, and a light suddenly clicked on. Blinking, Beast Boy recognized a form of Raven, though wearing glasses and a yellow cloak, move away from him with a candle grasped gently in her hands. She was directing her attention to a fallen stand that lay on its side next to a potted plant bearing a large crack at its base.

"Are you aware how many occasions you have reiterated those phrases to Raven throughout preceding circumstances?" the emotion inquired, kneeling beside the plant.

"Uh…," Beast Boy stared at her with blank eyes that commonly appeared when he had to endure learning from someone. "What?"

The emotion sighed, levitating the mess on the floor back into its original position that it had stood in before Beast Boy knocked everything over. "Do you know how many times you have said those sentences to Raven in the past?" she repeated, lowering the quantity of intellectual words in her question.

"Oh. Uh… No?"

The crack in the pot sealed itself with a wave of the emotion's hand. "Three thousand five hundred twenty two, one thousand two hundred twelve, and ten thousand eight hundred ninety three times." She stood, turning around, and began to walk away. When Beast Boy just sat where he was next to the wall, not moving, she looked at him. "Would you care to accompany me?" Realizing she was talking to him, Beast Boy nodded, jumping to his feet, and joined her. She strolled forward at a brisk pace, someone with a specific destination in mind. It was around this time that Beast Boy -no longer having to fear for his life- started to take in his surroundings. He was in a square building made up of one colossal room and ceilings higher than those in the main room back in the Tower. The walls were faint yellow, and the tiled floors a brilliant white. Where he had entered, there had been several wooden bookshelves filled with a great multitude of volumes nearby, but now the only thing in sight was a wide screen on one wall connected to a large keyboard underneath.

"So," Beast Boy started, twiddling his thumbs with a glance at the emotion walking beside him, "who are you exactly?" He never was one to be known for his subtlety.

The emotion looked at him, pushing her glasses further up her nose. Already because of their quick conversation moments before, she knew that she would have to dial down her large vocabulary when it came to speaking with the shape-shifter. "I am the logical side of Raven," she introduced, dipping her head. "I analyze and assess the thoughts that materialize within Raven's mind, proceeding to afterwards categorize and systematize them into their corresponding statures." Beast Boy's vacant expression told her that he had no idea what she'd just said. "I… handle Raven's thoughts," she adjusted.

Understanding dawned in Beast Boy's eyes. "Oh! Why didn't you just say that? So you're like the smart side of Raven?"

Smiling, the emotion nodded. "I am known by the others here as Knowledge." She slowed down her walking pace as they reached the sizeable screen and keyboard.

Beast Boy snuck a look at the bookshelves a little ways back. "What's with all of the books? I know that Raven likes to read, but I would think you would have something more fun to do since you're hanging out in here all the time."

Knowledge tapped a few buttons on the keyboard, and the monitor lit up. Numbers scrolled down the screen at too quick of a rate to follow. Adjusting her glasses, Knowledge pressed the spacebar with her finger. "Each volume contains memories of Raven's: her thoughts, feelings, and opinions on things that have occurred throughout her life." She paused. "And I must add that - while you might not agree- I take pleasure in reading and it is a productive way to pass the time."

"Hm, I guess," Beast Boy frowned, not really understanding why anybody would like to read, but also knowing that he and Raven always stood on opposite sides when it came down to enjoyable time-consuming activities. Beast Boy liked video games and sleeping; Raven liked meditation and reading. "I thought there would be more books though. I mean, Raven's gotta have more thoughts than a bookshelf or two, right?"

"There are a majority of books that you do not see here," Knowledge assured, typing again. "Below us in the basement there are countless memories stored on immeasurable racks. Sadly, many of the other emotions do not find they have the patience required for taking time to find and read these memories anymore, which is why I created the database for quicker access." On the monitor above, a single folder labeled RAVEN appeared. Knowledge hit the enter key, and several options popped up. Looking at Beast Boy, Knowledge stepped back, gesturing for him to explore. Beast Boy obliged. The selections he had to choose from were DATES, ITEMS, PLACES, PEOPLE, PHRASES, and PERSONALITY. "Each folder contains the thoughts, feelings, and information Raven has on these subjects," Knowledge explained, feeling a little bit like a librarian. She couldn't help but think that the bookshelves nearby seemed appropriate. "If you want to see a specific memory, then you could search through DATESfolder, and find it that way. Otherwise, you can simply browse." Knowledge didn't mention that she had hidden a few folders from access when getting into the "_Memory Bank"_ as she liked to call it. Not everything was for the shape-shifter's eyes to see, and while some memories were concealed for the sake of privacy, others were kept secret because of the horrific things Raven had seen during her life so far. Trigon as a father subjected her to more than a few terrible situations that no one -no matter the age- should ever be forced to witness or be a part of.

Beast Boy bit his lip, thinking. Since he couldn't recall anything specific at the moment, he clicked on the PHRASES binder with no real purpose save for curiosity. Another inventory of choices arrived, the top option being FREQUENT PHRASES. Beast Boy selected it. A long list of well-known statements that Beast Boy recognized showed on the monitor. At the top of the list was Raven's familiar mantra: Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. To Beast Boy's surprise, one of his words was second in line.

"Dude!" Beast Boy exclaimed, leaning forward. "I never thought I said dude so much!" Sure enough, _dude_ was next on the list, scoring with a total of over four million times that he'd said it during the few years that he and Raven had known each other. He wondered if it wasn't higher than her chant because she had to repeat the mantra in her mind every time he said _dude_. Skimming through a little more of the list, he saw Cyborg's famous _Boo-ya, _Robin's _Titan's Go, _and Starfire's _glorious_ phrases. He was a little embarrassed to see his _please don't kill me_ reaching pretty high on the list. Eventually he got bored of the FREQUENT PHRASES, and Beast Boy backtracked to another binder, this time selecting PERSONALITY.

This folder was a little different than the last. It still had different files to look through, but each of these was listed by emotions. Beast Boy looked at Knowledge for clarification.

She walked to his side. "These are the more frequent feelings that Raven experiences. They are listed by percentages, meaning that the higher the number near the emotion showed, then the more she feels that emotion. For example," she opened the Knowledge folder, "out of all of her emotions, which there are a large amount, she experiences me seven percent of the time."

"Is that high?" Beast Boy asked, a tad confused as always.

Knowledge smiled. "Considering how many of us there are, I would say it is slightly more than average."

"Hm," Beast Boy thought for a moment, and then, taking the keyboard back from Knowledge, selected Happy. The percentage six appeared next to an image of a pink-cloaked Raven with a wide smile. "Higher than I'd thought it would be," he admitted.

"Raven has increased in her happiness percentage more as of late," Knowledge informed him.

"That's good," Beast Boy replied, clicking on Timid who showed up as a two and a half percent. "I hate it when people are sad, especially her. She's gone through a lot and deserves to laugh sometimes. Though," he added, moving onto Brave, "I never _have_ heard her laugh." Knowledge said nothing, just pushed her glasses further up her nose. Brave's percentage was also seven, tied with Knowledge's. The next binder that Beast Boy caught sight of was Rage's, and after a moment's hesitation, he clicked on it. Holding his breath as the page opened, he waited for the numbers to show. The image of a sinister Raven cloaked in red with four glowing eyes loaded alongside the low percent of three. Beast Boy exhaled, running a hand through his hair. Knowledge watched him with some interest.

"Why are you so relieved?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Huh?" Beast Boy glanced at her. "Oh, I dunno. I guess it's that I wouldn't want to have her fighting Rage all the time without help. The last time Rage escaped, Cyborg and I were here, but it has still gotta be tough on her with that emotion brewing inside all the time." He grinned. "That, and I feel better knowing Raven's less likely to go _super-mad-Raven-mode_ and hurt me when I annoy her."

Knowledge observed him. "Has she ever really hurt you, Beast Boy? Has she ever drawn blood or broken any bones in the past when she was angry with you?"

"Well, I'm sure she has!" Beast Boy exclaimed, defending himself. "There was always that one time when I played the prank on her with the water balloons and…" He paused, thinking. "Okay, not that time, but I mean, she's got to have when I was playing video games and… When I had the bucket of tofu… With the jump rope… Or the pies… Um. Dude," he said, surprised. "I never thought about it like that." Knowledge smiled. Shaking his head, Beast Boy put the situation in the back of his mind where he hoped to deal with it later -but probably never would- and pulled his attention back to the screen. Scrolling down, he saw some other folders that hadn't been looked through with names of emotions he didn't recognize. "Rude?" Beast Boy opened the binder. "Four percent? Really?"

Knowledge dipped her head. "You would see that most of Raven's sarcastic comments come from Rude, should you ever meet her."

"I guess that would explain why it's she's that high. Raven loves to be sarcastic," Beast Boy nodded, skimming over a few more. "Sloth, Jealousy, Confusion, Calm…" He paused on the next one, wonderment in his voice. "Affection?" Curiously, he opened the folder, and, glancing at him from behind, Knowledge stayed quiet. A picture of an emotion in a soft violet cloak and a gentle smile loaded, next to the percentage of… "Undetermined?" Beast Boy read. "What does that mean?"

Knowledge explained, focusing on the monitor. "In Raven's mind, her emotions are always changing, coming, and going. Some are harder to track than others, and some will escalate quickly only to vanish not to long after their appearance. I've never been able to get a clear reading when it comes to this emotion; she's too quick for even me."

"Couldn't you figure it out by looking at the other numbers or something?" Beast Boy asked, uncertain if he had the right idea about the way the percentages worked. Even teenage heroes had trouble with math sometimes, especially Beast Boy. He wasn't too good at english, science, or history either.

"I could attempt it," Knowledge admitted, adjusting her glasses, "but as I verbalized before, Raven's emotions are always fluctuating, and it would require extensive amounts of research to fulfill the particular task within the short duration of time she is stabilized, not to comment on how dubious the prospect of her…" She stopped. Beast Boy was clutching his head.

"Ah! Big words! My brain hurts!"

"And you're inside someone's," Knowledge reminded, allowing herself a small smile. "How do you think Raven must feel?"

Beast Boy rubbed his eyes, shaking his head. "Probably not so good," he confessed, clicking out of the PERSONALITY folder. He knew that he should probably get going soon -especially considering how short the distance he traveled ever since arriving in Raven's mind was- but there was one more thing he wanted to look at before leaving. He opened the PEOPLE file. Four large folders were presented, along with several miniature binders underneath, all labeled with names. The top four were the immediate team of Titans: Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy. Beast Boy clicked on himself.

A flurry of words and pictures emerged from the file. Beast Boy recognized many of the photos of himself from recent activities and pranks that he'd involved Raven in, willingly and unwillingly. The most current of images was from that morning. He was standing in front of Raven with an insistent expression, the plate of tofu in his hand as he shoved it under Raven's nose. Casting an embarrassed glimpse at Knowledge, Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head and scrolled down. Besides photos on his page, there were also bits and pieces of information, like his favorite foods and color, alongside a quick paragraph describing his appearance. It wasn't very long; most of the information had the word _green_ in it. The next paragraph, however, surprised Beast Boy.

A long list of the many pranks he had pulled around the Tower over the years was recorded under a section of binders, dating back to the very first joke he'd set up when he and Raven had met. It was the simple whoopee cushion trick, but Beast Boy had never forgotten how astonished -and then afterwards angry- Raven had looked when she'd sat down on the couch planning to read her book in peace and a gust of air escaped from under her seat. Apparently, Raven hadn't forgotten either. Beast Boy scratched behind his neck thoughtfully. Raven must've been preparing for a very long time in case he tried any of these pranks again to have remembered every single one of them. It was a wonder she didn't set any up on him nowadays. The shape-shifter made a mental note that he would have to start getting more creative with his tricks the next time he tried anything.

Beast Boy had another surprise in store for him. Further along in his folder, he discovered a picture of when Terra had arrived to the tower a second time. He was standing with his back to Raven, gawking up at the sky where Terra was gliding above their heads on wide rocks. Terra's expression was open with a bright smile, her blonde hair billowing out in the wind behind her. Beast Boy remembered that she was trying to prove how much of a handle she'd gotten on her powers, and doing a good job at it too. There was one word underneath the photo.

_Relationship?_

Beast Boy looked at the keyboard. He wasn't an empath like Raven, so it was impossible for him to sense the wave of sadness coming from the emotion of Knowledge who stood behind the shape-shifter. However, he did hold animal instincts within his skinny frame, and detected some kind of strong emotion radiating about the room, like a thick cloud had appeared and was dousing him and Knowledge with an unidentified, but powerful, feeling. He wasn't even sure if it was coming from him or not.

Trying to shake the dismal feeling that weighed down on him like a heavy coat, Beast Boy scanned the next few pages until reaching a very familiar picture. This was something he'd remembered quite clearly in fact, even though it had occurred several years ago. Raven standing with her arms wrapped around Beast Boy, holding him in a comforting embrace. There were no words underneath the photo. It was the hug that had followed the heartbreak with Malchior, the deceitful dragon who dared to say he loved Raven and lied. Beast Boy still could recall the quickening of his heartbeat when Raven had thrown her arms around him without warning. It had been a big shock, especially since he was expecting her to take out her anger on him instead of give him a hug. The cloud that was settling around Beast Boy and Knowledge lightened, and Knowledge stepped forward.

"I imagine you should be departing soon," she reminded gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Beast Boy looked at her, blushing though he wasn't sure why. "Oh, yeah. That's… That's probably a good idea." He moved away from the keyboard, casting one last quick glance at the familiar photo on the screen, and then let Knowledge close out of the page.

* * *

**Please review!**


	3. You Did What?

"You did _what?!_" Robin cried, staring in horror in front of him at the girl who looked like Raven. Beside the leader, Cyborg wore a similar shocked expression, and even Starfire seemed a little troubled. The Titans were standing inside Raven's bedroom with Happy who had just explained that Beast Boy was already in her head thanks to her.

"What I just said, silly!" Happy exclaimed, giggling. She gestured to the mirror on the dresser. "I told Beast Boy to go through my portal into Raven's head, so he did!"

Robin stared at her for a moment more before sinking to sit on the edge of Raven's bed, his hands covering his face. Starfire flew to the leader's side, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Why? Why would you do that?" Robin asked muffled through his fingers.

"I don't see the problem," Happy admitted, smiling. "Beast Boy was a great guy to send in!"

Robin only groaned, burying his head deeper into his hands, so Cyborg was the one to respond. "I don't think you understand, Happy. Beast Boy is going to either get himself killed, or he will destroy Raven's mind. Either way, we've got a dead friend on our hands."

Happy rolled her eyes in a playful manner. "You guys just gotta trust BB! He's not going to kill anyone!" Smirking, she slipped over to Cyborg's side and elbowed him, winking. "Looking good, Cy. You could totally win a fashion contest with that cloak of yours." Cyborg ripped the glittering pink cloak off of his shoulders with an embarrassed blush and chucked it into a nearby trash can. Happy quickly swooped down, snatching up the robe that was tinted her favorite color. Where Cyborg had gotten it, she wished she knew. As Happy was wrapping the cloak around her shoulders, Cyborg looked at his leader.

"We're going to have to hope for the best," Robin stated, lifting his head and trying to be positive. "I can only pray that Beast Boy knows what he's doing and doesn't break anything."

"Yeah, and remember man when he was inside of me once because he messed up my systems?" Cyborg reminded. "He didn't kill me then! That's got to be a good sign!"

"Right!" Robin nodded, eager for some optimism about the situation.

Starfire floated over to him. "But were you not running around Jump City consuming the machines of money and vehicle parts during the time in which friend Beast Boy was inside of you?" A depressed weight settled over Robin and Cyborg again at her reminder. They exchanged glances. Dealing with Cyborg's virus-infected appetite had been hard enough, but Raven was a lot more likely to injure with her powers instead of just causing civilians to be scared by a robotic teenager eating an ATM.

Cyborg let out a miserable groan and sat down on Raven's bed beside Robin, his weight making the bed tilt to one side a little. "Beast Boy's going to cause the end of the world, isn't he?"

"I wouldn't doubt that he can find a way to somehow do it," Robin replied gloomily, his head back in his hands. His words only served to worsen the room's mood, all except for Happy feeling the effect, for Happy was always happy; that is, until someone else decided it was their turn to show up. The emotion had gotten the sparkling pink cloak draped over her shoulders and was looking in a non-magical mirror enjoying the color, when she suddenly froze into a straight position. Her eyes went blank as she stared off into space, and her arms dropped to her sides lifelessly. Her teammates noticed the abrupt lack of movement from Happy, and Starfire flew over to her friend.

"Friend Rav-er-Happy?" she asked, concerning for the girl. "What is the matter?"

When there was no response, Robin and Cyborg joined the two quickly. "Happy?" Robin demanded. "What's going on? Are you alright?" Silence followed his reply.

"Oh no," Cyborg gasped, putting his hands on his head. "Beast Boy did somethin'! He's killed her, didn't he?! This is bad, man!"

Robin shook his head, testing Raven's limp hand for a pulse. "No, her heartbeat is normal and she's still breathing. I don't think this has to do with Beast Boy," he added.

Cyborg didn't hear the last sentence. "Then he broke her, didn't he?! I _knew_ I should have gone in the mirror instead of that kid! He can't concentrate on what we're saying half the time, let alone focus enough on anything important, so why don't we go ahead and send him into someone's _brain_? WHERE THERE'S NOTHING INTERESTING AROUND TO DISTRACT HIM!"

"Cyborg!" Robin snapped, pulling the robotic teenager out of his anxiety-induced rant. "We don't know what's happened," the Titan's leader continued with a stern look. "Stop assuming the worst, and we'll figure this out."

The worried look never left the robotic teenager's face, but it did lessen itself. "Man, this is Beast Boy we're talkin' about; _always_ assume the worst has happened." Their conversation was disrupted by a sudden jolt from Raven's body, and her vacant violet eyes filled with awareness of the world around her once more. She shook her head, glancing around the room with curiosity when she noticed Robin was holding her wrist.

"Oi, hands off!" she exclaimed, jerking her hand away. "You ain't tryin' to get the jump on me while I'm distracted or somethin', are ya?"

Robin blinked in surprise. "What? No, I was just checking your-."

"And what is this rubbish that I'm wearin'?!" the girl exclaimed, without waiting for him to finish his sentence. Tearing the sparkly pink cloak off, she threw it on Cyborg's head without a second thought and looked down at the purple cloak that was underneath. "Well, it's not much better but at least it ain't pink. Although…" She paused, pulling her cape back a little to peek under it. She sighed. "Nope, no more cloaks there. Dang it, I was hopin' for something orange." The girl looked at the other Titans. "Any of you weirdoes got some orange cloaks just lyin' around somewhere that I can take?"

While Cyborg was trying to untangle himself from the pink robe that was covering his head and had somehow managed to hook on a gap in between sections of mechanical armor at his elbow, Robin approached the dark girl. Something had obviously changed. "Listen, we're a little confused right now as to what just happened, so could you maybe-?"

"Yo, answer the question," the girl interrupted, crossing her arms. She rolled her eyes. "Sheesh, how rude. Ya can't just go ignorin' someone like that, bird brain."

Robin's eye twitched just a little. "O…kay, Raven or Happy or whoever you are, no, we don't have any cloaks. Now, did you change emotions a moment ago? I'm sure you're not the Raven we know, so who are you?"

The girl leaned back against the wall, picking her teeth. "You're the detective; you figure it out, smart guy."

"I think it's safe to say that she's not Happy anymore," Cyborg observed, at last detaching the cloak from his head and tossing it into the trash again.

"So you don't recognize her?" Robin asked him.

The robotic teenager shook his head. "No, I don't think I met her when I was inside Raven's mirror before, and since she said something about an orange cloak, now I'm almost certain BB and I didn't see her. Like I said, we only met a few emotions, and this one doesn't fit any of their descriptions. She's far from Timid, we saw Happy already, and she's not Rage or Brave. She's too rude to be any of them."

"Ding-ding-ding." The Titans looked at the girl leaning on the wall. She tapped her nose. "Ya just hit it on the head, rust bucket."

"What?"

"Rude is my name and sarcasm is my game," she smirked. "Whatcha gonna do about it?"

"Um," Robin shrugged at Rude. "Nothing, I guess. We were-."

"That's right you're not," Rude cut him off. She pushed herself off of the wall, walking toward the exit and brushing boorishly past the leader. "Now if you weirdoes will excuse me, I'm going to go explore around this trash can that you call home. Maybe I'll even leave my mark to be remembered by before another emotion shows up." The door slid shut behind her, and both Cyborg and Robin let out a tired sigh.

Starfire spoke first. "Please, I do not understand. Why has friend Raven who is actually friend Happy but no longer is in control of friend Raven's body become so… rude?"

Robin already had it figured out. "It seems to me that Happy's time has finished, expired if you will, and this Rude emotion has taken her place. We'll just have to deal with her until Beast Boy fixes the problem or another emotion comes out. I would guess the latter will happen first."

"Come on ya'll," Cyborg said, approaching the door. "We'd better find out what Rude is up to before she does anything to the tower or our things." The three Titans hurried out of Raven's bedroom to search for their friend, Cyborg muttering beneath his breath as they did so. "Call my tower a trash can will she? Well, she'd better not think that she can touch any of my stuff or she's got another thing coming, inside Raven's body or not."

To everyone's surprise, none of the Titans had to search far before finding Rude kicking her feet up on the table in front of the living room couch. She held a video game controller in her hands, and though she looked bored, her fingers were pounding the controller vigorously. A ding sound came from the television, and Cyborg looked up in shock to see that both his and Beast Boy's names had been wiped completely from the high scores board and was now dominated with _Wish _in first place, _You _in second, _Were _in third, _Me _in fourth, and _Don'tcha? _in fifth. How she'd managed to find such a time to put all those words on the board, Cyborg had no idea, but he was too busy being upset to think about it.

"What did you _do?!_" he cried, dashing forward and trying to rip the controller from Rude's hands. Much to his astonishment, Rude's grip was tighter than if she had glued her fingers to the plastic, and his attempt to take the controller resulted in a tugging match between him and the dark girl.

"Yo, tin man!" Rude snapped. "Leggo!"

"No!" Cyborg yelled. "You musta hacked into the system; who knows what else you might try to do?!"

"Win some more?" Rude smirked smugly, still holding the controller.

Starfire glanced at Robin, who, while he wasn't smiling outright, did find the situation a little funny. It was a nice relief from all the worrying he'd done that day. The alien princess put a finger to her chin. "I am… confused. Why is friend Cyborg so upset over a game of videos?"

Robin started walking down the steps toward Rude and Cyborg, and Starfire followed him. "Cyborg says that Rude hacked into our computer system to beat his and Beast Boy's scores, but I think he's just mad because Raven -someone who never plays video games- managed to wipe away any trace that he was ever on the high score board." The leader allowed himself a quick smile. "It makes sense to me; Rude was being rude. I doubt that she actually hacked into our system, but who knows? She might have, though it seems unlikely. My guess is she just wanted to irritate Cyborg. After all, this emotion _is _Rude."

Cyborg was now pulling at the video game controller with serious frustration, and Rude looked bored again. "Seriously, tin man, maybe I'm just better at you than video games. Accept the ugly truth already."

"No way!" Cyborg cried. "There is no way that could be true! Raven has _never _touched our game station in her life out of free will! There's no other explanation except that you must have cheated!"

Rude's expression grew irritated, and, still holding onto the controller but now with one hand, flicked her finger against the robotic teenager's forehead. A spark of black could be seen from the girl's hand, and Cyborg was sent flying backwards. Luckily, he landed on the far end of the couch and missed suffering a harsh landing. Rude scowled impatiently at him.

"Cheatin'? You think I cheated to beat your pathetic score?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips. "Do ya know how much Raven puts up with your racket when ya are playin' this stupid game? It would be so easy to destroy this thing right now. There's no way you'd have a chance of beatin' my records anyway, so I should just do it." Cyborg gasped in horror. All the work he'd spent, tireless hours focused on unlocking achievements and awards, it would all be gone with a brush of Rude's hand. Rude seemed to be considering it, but at last she sat back down on the couch, causing Cyborg to almost pass out with relief. "Naw, I won't do it. That'd just be mean, and I don't want to be nothin' like Rage out here. Ya'll have a handful when that emotion shows up anyway. 'Sides," Rude added, propping her feet up on the table like she had when the Titans walked in to find her earlier, "you never know if BB might beat my record. Though I doubt it," she smirked smugly.

Robin approached her as Starfire tended to Cyborg. "Rude. While I know that this is a 'once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity' you have here, I'm going to ask you not to break any of our things. Or friends," he added quickly as Cyborg muttered under his breath something from the couch. "We happen to live here, and I'm sure Raven wouldn't be too happy if she found out how you've been treating the tower and her teammates."

Rude waved her hand at him, pushing a button on the controller with her other hand. "Yeah, yeah, I hear ya bird brain. But you know, it's not really fair," she complained. "It's just my luck that I'm stuck out here with you freaks right after Beast Boy left. At least I would have had a little fun with him if he was here, but ya'll are only worryin' about Raven and whatever. I don't get out much, so could it kill ya to quit stressin' over everyin' and maybe play around a bit instead?" Hearing no objection, Rude smirked and stretched out on the couch. "That's more like it." She focused on the television, her fingers flying over the controller. She didn't even blink when a loud burp escaped from her mouth, only pausing her game when she noticed the other Titans were looking at her in surprise. They were unused to hearing anything like that from Raven, whether or not she was in control. "What?" Rude asked. "I would apologize but… you know, it's not my style." Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg all groaned. They had a feeling it was going to be a long day.

* * *

Beast Boy walked down the rocky path that stretched out in front of him, wondering how long it would take him to find Raven. He was aware that he'd only been in her mind for about twenty minutes -his detour with Knowledge having taken up more than half of that- but Beast Boy was an impatient person. When he played video games, he would yell at the screen for taking too long to load, and if he had to wait in a line to buy something at the store for more than a minute, he would complain the entire time, much to the irritation of whoever he was shopping with. Besides his impatience, Beast Boy was actually really worried about Raven, and why she wasn't in control of her body. He knew she was a strong person, and if anything was holding her captive to keep her from taking back control, they would have to be very powerful.

Beast Boy's thoughts were interrupted by a whimper, and the shape-shifter glanced around. He had walked into a forest of tall trees without realizing it, and -after turning in a circle and recognizing nothing- it didn't take much for him to see that he was lost. He let out an aggravated sigh, starting to walk in a randomly chosen direction, when he heard another, similar whimper nearby. Beast Boy looked to the side, catching sight of what looked like a purple boot sticking out from behind a tree trunk.

"Raven?" he asked, instantly alert. Could he really be so lucky as to find her this quickly? Would he be able to go back to the Titans so soon without having run into any trouble?

The answer to his question was, no, he wasn't that lucky and would not be leaving the mirror anytime soon. Beast Boy recognized this to be true when he walked around the tree to discover a Raven lookalike crouched on the ground, whimpering like a lost puppy with her hands covering her face. Beast Boy was surprised, and a flicker of concern flashed through him. Raven never cried, and even though this wasn't technically Raven, it still looked like her, and Beast Boy hated seeing the dark girl sad. He knelt down and reached a hand out to her. "Hey, what's the matter?" The emotion wearing a gray cloak jumped at his voice, and, with a scared yelp, scrambled backwards into the bushes, but before she could get farther away her robe caught on a branch and held her captive. Tears bit at the edge of her indigo eyes.

"P-p-please d-don't t-take me away!" she stuttered. "I-I-I don't want t-to leave!"

Beast Boy attempted to calm her down. "It's okay; I'm not going to take you anywhere. Don't be scared." Slowly so not to frighten her, he stepped closer and unhooked the emotion's cloak from the branches, trying to show her that he was helping. "It's me, Beast Boy. You're Timid, right?" Timid's sad eyes widened in recognition, and -no longer imprisoned by the undergrowth- she jumped forward and buried her head into his chest. Beast Boy went ridged with surprise, and a bright blush spread across his face. "U-uh, Timid?"

Realizing what she was doing, Timid jerked away and hid her face in her hands again, pulling her hood far over her head. Her face was flushed red as well, creating an unusual look about her when mixed with her pale skin. "I-I'm sorry," she whispered, tears beginning to sparkle in her eyes again. "I-I didn't mean t-to-."

"It's okay!" Beast Boy said before she could start crying again. "I-I didn't mind! Please don't cry!" Beast Boy knew that he wasn't very good at the whole comforting thing, but he didn't want Timid to start sobbing over something so small and he at least had to _try_ to stop her. He reached his hand toward the girl, and though Timid drew away, he knew it was only because she was embarrassed.

"I-I'm sorry," she apologized again, the tears in her eyes stopping their fall.

"It's alright," Beast Boy assured, and this time Timid allowed him to place his hand on her shoulder. "What happened that had made you so upset before?"

As if just remembering, Timid glanced over her back, drawing away from the trees and simultaneously moving closer to Beast Boy. "I-I was w-with Brave, and she w-was trying to help me get o-over my fears a-and then s-she d-disappeared!" Timid struggled to explain, her stammering getting worse as she spoke. "I-I d-don't know w-where s-she w-w-went a-a-a-a-n-nd I-I-I-I-." She gulped, hugging her hands to her chest. "A-and I don't w-want to disappear either! W-where did Brave g-go?"

Beast Boy wasn't sure where Brave had gone, especially since he wasn't familiar with how things worked in Raven's mind, but he suspected it had something to do with emotions taking control of Raven's body out in the real world. Maybe it was simply Brave's turn? "I'm sure Brave is fine," Beast Boy guaranteed the scared emotion in front of him. "Judging by the last time I met her, Brave can handle herself." Timid bit her lip, nodding, somewhat comforted by his words. She suddenly realized just how close she was to Beast Boy, and, blushing again, the emotion skittered back. Thankfully, Beast Boy was distracted.

Looking around, he asked, "Didn't you used to live in a maze or something? Why are you in the forest now?"

"O-oh," Timid mumbled, "t-the maze doesn't show up very much anymore. O-only when visitors come."

"Which is almost never?" Beast Boy guessed. Timid nodded. "Well," Beast Boy said, smiling, "maze or not, _I'm_ a little lost right now. Could you maybe show me where to find Raven?" Apparently Timid had been aware that Raven was in her mind, despite the emotion wondering where Brave could have gone, for she nodded. Motioning for Beast Boy to follow her, the shy girl started walking into the forest. Beast Boy was quick to follow, but as he fell into step beside her, the ground rumbled under their feet. Beast Boy jumped behind Timid, which didn't work very well because Timid tried to do the same thing with him and they ended up very awkwardly colliding. The two fell apart to the earth as the rumbling subsided. "What was that?!" he asked. "Please don't tell me it had to do with the statue things or any scary monsters!"

Her wide eyes glowing white for a moment, Timid shook her head at him. "N-no."

"Then what was that?!"

Timid wrapped her arms around herself. "R-Raven was just injured."

This caught Beast Boy's attention, and he quickly got to his feet, his fear vanishing. "What, in here? We have to help her!"

Again, Timid shook her head. "I-it came from the outside world. Her body w-was hurt."

"Can we help her?" Beast Boy asked, offering a hand to Timid. The girl shyly took it, and Beast Boy hoisted her to her feet.

Timid nodded. "Yes, I can help her," she whispered, "but it will take a few minutes. I-I'm sorry."

Beast Boy smiled. "If it helps Raven, I don't mind waiting." Timid dipped her head, lifting her legs into the air and crossed them. With a quick bashful glance at the shape-shifter standing beside her, the emotion closed her eyes, murmuring her mantra beneath her breath. She didn't move for a few minutes, and, already bored, Beast Boy fought the urge to go exploring. He would easily get lost, more than he already was, and he knew that, but his young teenage mind was curious to what could be occupying the woods besides Timid. Thinking about it, he realized that he probably didn't _want _to know what else was in there, especially once he remembered the stone statues were from Timid's domain. After that, the impulse to explore disappeared altogether.

Eventually Timid opened her eyes, lowering herself to the ground. Beast Boy's ears perked up. "Is she okay?"

Timid reddened; she had forgotten Beast Boy was there, having been by her lonesome most of the time. "U-uh, y-yes," she whispered. "The other emotions and I have healed her injury."

Beast Boy was surprised. "Wait, so that's how Raven heals? It's you guys?"

"I-in a way." Timid started moving through the forest again and Beast Boy followed. "When Raven heals others, s-she draws the pain into her body from their wound. W-when she's hurt, the rest of the emotions heal her. It takes a little w-while, that's all."

"Hang on," Beast Boy said. "Raven gets hurt when she heals others?" Timid nodded, and Beast Boy ran a hand through his hair. "Dude, why didn't she tell us that?! I don't know how many times I've gotten hurt and she's healed me! I wouldn't have let her do that if I knew!"

"T-that's why she doesn't say anything," Timid murmured, slipping around a tree trunk. She glanced at Beast Boy. "The pain doesn't last as l-long with her though. When you'd be in pain, she'd still be hurting b-because she can sense your discomfort."

"That's just like Raven," Beast Boy sighed. "I wish she would have told the team, or me, at least. I'd try to be less clumsy if I knew!" Timid just blushed again, stopping as she reached the edge of the forest. She and Beast Boy stood on a hill that opened up into a bare landscape with a rocky floor, and surrounding the flat section of land were craggy mountains. The whole place looked like a disaster waiting to happen. If attacked, Beast Boy would have no way out unless he was to fly, and he didn't think he'd want to try that by the looks several murky ravens nearby were giving him.

The shape-shifter pulled at his collar. "So… Raven's in here somewhere?"

"Yes," Timid said fearfully.

Beast Boy gave a nervous laugh. "You… wanna tell me where?" Timid opened her mouth to respond when suddenly she froze, her eyes wide. Her body shone a soft white color, and before either of them could move, Timid vanished. Beast Boy stared at the place she'd been a second before, feeling sweat drip down his neck. "Well, that can't be good," he mumbled.


	4. Finding Raven

**I apologize for the delay in updating. School started about two weeks ago, and I had to find time to dedicate to writing. My updates might still be a little delayed, but I'll try to keep up. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Please, friend Rude, would you perhaps like to try my meal?" Starfire asked, holding out a bowl of squirming alien food for the emotion to taste. Rude took one look at the meal, and, with a roll of her eyes, snorted.

"Yah, 'cause I wanna vomit and/or die. _No," _the emotion stressed after seeing Starfire's confused expression._ "_I don't have any desire to even touch that garbage." Rude sniffed the air above the food and then leaned far away. "Gah, you wantin' to poison me or what?! No _way_ am I tryin' that slop of yours. You'd have better luck gettin' me to swallow a dirty sock."

Despite the emotions disheartening response, Starfire wasn't too disappointed; she knew that she was speaking with Raven's rude side, so it was only natural for the emotion to act impolite as that was the only way she knew how to behave. The alien girl just wished Happy had been around long enough for her to eat the bizarre meal like she'd promised to do. Starfire placed her dish in the refrigerator for later, and then glided over to Robin and Cyborg who were both sitting at the kitchen table with deflated expressions.

All of the Titans had been trying to deal with Rude for the past fifteen or so minutes and were not doing a very good job with it. None of the team would deny that they were desperately hoping another emotion would take the place of Rude, and soon. So far, the girl had beaten every one of Cyborg and Beast Boy's video games, drank all the soda in the Titan's possession –which hadn't helped with her burping problem- and insulted the other teenagers the entire time. At the moment she was flicking aimlessly through television channels, making irritating comments about each of the advertisements. Cyborg had considered another confrontation, but Robin reminded him that it couldn't be long until Rude left and another emotion took her place. The robotic teenager had been counting the seconds since then.

Starfire lowered herself to the seat beside her friends, sighing. "Please friends, do you think that friend Beast Boy has yet located Raven in her mind mirror?"

"I want to say yes, Star; I really do," Robin responded, fiddling with his gloves in a bored manner. "I'm actually _praying_ that he has, but it seems unlikely. We've probably got a while before he gets back."

"So that means we've got to be stuck with little Miss '_WishYouWereMeDon'tcha'_ for a while," Cyborg muttered. He glanced at the clock. "Seven minutes and twenty-two seconds. Twenty-three…twenty-four…"

Starfire was confused. "What is it that you are counting, friend Cyborg?"

Cyborg grunted. "Twenty-six… The amount of time that has passed since Robin told me it wouldn't be '_too long until another emotion takes Rude's place'. _Once I reach ten minutes, I'm considering knocking Rude out with one of Robin's little gas gadgets." Subconsciously, Robin's hand went to his belt, and Cyborg grinned. "Just kiddin'. But then again, it might make me feel better in the long run."

Rude suddenly whipped around from her spot on the couch, having heard his last comment. "Oh yah, wise guy?! I'd like to see you try it!"

Cyborg jumped to his feet, ready to take his irritation out on her. "Bring it on!"

Rude stood, pulling up her imaginary sleeves. "I say that it'll take me less than two minutes to take you down and kick your-." She cut off, her arms dropping limply to her sides and a familiar vacant look in her eye. Cyborg threw his hands to the air.

"YES! FINALLY!" he exclaimed. His teammates lifted their eyebrows at him, and the robotic teenager caught their expressions. "What? It's about time she switched! Honestly, even if Rage showed up right now I wouldn't care as long as I never have to deal with Rude again!" Cyborg paused, thinking about what he just said. "Well… okay, I _would_ care if it was Rage, but you know what I mean." His friends were saved from having to respond by a shift from Raven's body. The girl shook her head, her mouth already moving before she seemed aware of her surroundings.

"Come on now, Timid, it's not that hard! You just take a breath, walk forward, and-!" The emotion blinked, and then she lit up. "It's my turn already?! Awesome!" she exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air excitedly. Her eyes landed on Cyborg first, and the emotion flew over to him. "Yo, whatzzup Cy?! Run into any more statues that you need saving from lately?" she asked, smirking as she elbowed him meaningfully.

Cyborg studied her, a smile crossing his face. "Let me guess: Brave?"

Brave rolled her eyes. "No, I'm Rage." She held her hands out in a mocking "scary" manner similar to a look that people used when pretending they were zombies. "Rarr, I'm Rage. I hate everything. Rarr." This made everyone laugh a little, even though her comment wasn't terribly funny. Brave was a nice relief from Rude.

"I'm so glad you're not Rude anymore," Cyborg grinned, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You guys had to deal with Rude already?" Brave asked, pulling back her hood. She wasn't one who liked to stay concealed behind the shadow the cloth created; she didn't have it in her personality to hide. "Yikes, that one is more trouble than she's worth in my opinion. But forget her!" Brave dismissed brightly. "Let's go do something fun! I _totally _want to have a video game match with you Cy, and Robin, let's have a sparring match later. Star can be on your team since you'll need the help to beat me," she added daringly. Robin lifted an eyebrow, curious despite himself. It was rare the team saw Raven so bold, and he wondered how it might affect her while sparring.

"Sounds like a plan," the leader smiled.

Brave smirked like Robin had no idea what he'd just agreed to. "Great! Let's get a move on then-." She was suddenly drowned out by the blaring of an alarm, and all the Titans glanced at each other. Robin quickly approached the computer, and, tapping on it, read the reason for the distress signal.

"There's a break-in at the bank," he stated. "It's Control Freak." The teenager looked at Brave who was hovering over his shoulder with noticeable interest. "I don't think it would be a good idea for you to go out into the city, Brave. We don't know what would happen if-."

"Are you kidding?!" Brave exclaimed, her eyes alight with excitement. "This is even better than fighting _you_ guys! I don't have to worry about accidentally hurting the team and I get to put a bad guy in jail! I'm coming with," she added sternly at Robin's skepticism. "You can't stop me; you know that, right?"

Cyborg, remembering just how good Brave was at kicking butt, placed a large hand on his leader's shoulder. "Let her come with, man. This is an 'once-in-a-lifetime chance' remember? Besides," he lowered his voice, "Brave doesn't care if you want her to join us; she would come with anyway. It's better to bring her with so she doesn't run off on her own, and this way we can keep an eye on her."

Nodding, Robin sighed. "Alright, Brave can come."

"Sweet!" Brave grinned, rubbing her hands. "I can't wait! Race you to the T-car!" In a flash, she flew out the doors, her purple cape a streak of speed. Her team members were quick to follow the girl, and within minutes they all sat in the T-car, driving to the scene of the crime.

The team pulled up quickly to the entrance of the bank, each jumping out quickly, especially Brave who was more than excited to fight while in charge of Raven's body. She usually had influence during battles against enemies and criminals when Raven brawled, but Brave's abilities were always suppressed out of fear that Raven's powers could go wild. Now though, Brave didn't have to worry about any of that. Her powers couldn't get out of hand because she couldn't feel anything other than courage.

The Titans were just about to burst in through the doors of the bank when they were stopped by Control Freak himself strolling out of the front with bags of money slung over his shoulder, his black and red remote control shoved into his right pocket. He stopped short in front of the teenage heroes, quickly hiding the surprise on his face with a grin. "Well, if it isn't the Teenage Titans."

"What kind of a bad guy walks out the front doors of a bank right after robbing it? That's just bad planning." Brave snorted before anyone else could speak, crossing her arms from where she floated a few feet in the air beside Starfire. "What do you plan to do with all that money anyway? Buy useless stuff that you've already blown all your money on?" Control Freak seemed taken aback by her forwardness, as asking such a question was uncharacteristic of Raven. Little did he know, but he was not technically dealing with the dark sorceress.

"Err… well… yes," the villain admitted under his breath, "but that's not the point! This money is certain to bring me many riches!"

"Isn't that rhetorical?" Brave smirked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Uh-! I… Ye-…? Uh, that is-?"

"Put the money back and give yourself up, Control Freak," Robin interrupted the criminal, positioning his staff in a defensive position. "You know we've always beaten you in the past; that's not going to change."

Control Freak's expression cleared from the confused look he wore to one of confidence. "I wouldn't count on that, Boy Blunder. You see, I-."

Brave interrupted again with a groan. "Seriously, I never knew we wasted so much time talking to villains! He's not going to give himself up, so let's just do this!" Brave lifted a glowing hand in Control Freak's direction, and a streak of black power zipped towards the squat man. With a jolt of surprise, the villain fell to the ground and Brave's magic only barely missed him.

"Whoa!" Control Freak cried in alarm, falling onto the remote that was sticking out of his pocket. A red beam shot forward and was absorbed by a pair of lampposts nearby. The objects came to life, shaking their lights as if they were heads and opening yellow two eyes that looked like bulbs which all set on Brave. An eager grin lit up the girl's face as the streetlights detached from the ground, growing metal arms as they did so, and lumbered toward her.

"That's more like it!" Brave exclaimed, clenching her fists. The first streetlamp swung its strange arm -which was really just a metal pole- at Brave and the team. The Titans split apart, and the arm crashed down, cracking the cement.

Robin slid over the ground, stopping in a crouched position. "Teen Titans-!" he began, but before the leader could finish his signature phrase, Brave flew past him and collided into one of the lampposts with glowing arms.

"Go!" she exclaimed, grinning. The magic about her fists connected with the place the stomach would be, and the streetlight hurtled backwards. The other lamppost moved forward, swinging at Brave from behind, but the girl easily ducked, sweeping her leg in an arc as she stooped down. The lamppost, while not knocked over, was unbalanced, and Brave took advantage of the situation and leapt in the air. With a spinning kick, she cracked her foot against the head-light, breaking the glass. The monster fell to the ground defeated and inanimate once more.

The rest of the team was currently engaged in battle with a trashcan and tree that Control Freak had zapped with his remote control while the teenagers were distracted by the lampposts. A few feet from the mêlée, the villain was tapping his chin. "Hm… I just realized you're minus one in number. Where's the green one at?"

"Hah!"

Control Freak looked over at Brave who was now standing on the top of another defeated lamppost, dusting herself off. "He's busy," she smirked, and then clenched her fists eagerly. "Kind of like you're about to be." She floated into the air, slowly making her way toward the villain. It was a reckless move, but she wanted to savor defeating her first real villain all by herself.

Control Freak chuckled with obvious uncertainty, nervously fingering his remote. "Oh really?"

Brave nodded. "Yep." She suddenly flew at Control Freak, her eyes shimmering with power. However, the villain's tense expression relaxed into confidence, and, with a smirk, he aimed at Brave and pressed a button on his remote. A bolt of electricity jumped from the device, catching the girl in the blast. With a shout, Brave collapsed to the ground.

"Friend!" Starfire exclaimed, swooping into the air. After a quick, accurate eye blast into the trash can she was fighting, the alien girl dropped beside Brave. "Are you alright?" she asked, reaching a hand out to the emotion. Brave's head jerked up, and she threw her arms up, palms out, and conjured a black shield in front of them just in time to deflect another shot from Control Freak's remote. Starfire looked to Brave. "Please friend Brave, are you feeling alright?"

To her astonishment, Brave was smiling. "Never better." She rose to her feet. "It'll take more than that to bring me down."

"But-!" Starfire protested. "You should not fight if you are injured! Are you not hurt?"

Again, a knowing grin showed on Brave's face. "Not for long. The other emotions are taking care of it." While Starfire was busy being confused, Brave ricocheted another attack from Control Freak. The man, seeing how the tree he'd zapped was almost defeated by Robin and Cyborg, and that the uncharacteristic Raven seemed unaffected, whipped his head around, searching for something that could be a dangerous –or at least distracting– object to bring to life that would buy enough time for him to escape. Out of the corner of his eye, Control Freak noticed Brave approaching, and the squat man panicked, shooting the first thing he laid eyes on, which happened to be the sign above the bank.

Four, large, plastic letters jumped down from above the Titans, all wearing menacing scowls. Robin and Cyborg had just defeated the tree, and turning around, were greeted with the sight of the white A and N bearing down on them. As the two recovered from their surprise and began fighting, Brave looked to Starfire, who was facing the letters B and K. "You've got this, right?" Starfire nodded, her hands lighting up with starbolts. "Awesome," Brave grinned, cracking her knuckles. "Control Freak's mine." She melted into the ground, pulling up her hood as she did.

Control Freak was trying to slowly sneak away from the battle scenes with his bags of money as silent as possible, and was now regretting his decision to have grabbed a bag filled with coins that jingled with every step he took. However, his distraction seemed to have worked, and the man was about to start running when Brave emerged from the sidewalk right in front of him, her eyes glowing white. "Hello, Control Freak. Trying to go somewhere, I see."

Control Freak swallowed.

Smirking, Brave outstretched her hand, and the remote in the villain's hand was encased in black. It flew in the air, and then as the girl clenched her hand into a fist, the device broke apart into bits and pieces of electronic wires and plastic. Control Freak lifted his hands in the air, sweating. "I-I surrender."

"I thought it would have been more difficult than that." Sighing, Brave encased the man's hands in a thin line of magic that looked similar to handcuffs, and led Control Freak back to the other Titans who were still fighting the animate letters. Brave narrowed her eyes at Control Freak. "I thought your effects from the remote would have died when I broke your device?"

Control Freak shook his head a little. "That was a glitch I fixed so Boy Blunder over there wouldn't be able to pull that water trick like he did our first battle when he short-circuited my remote. You've got to defeat the things I've brought to life now."

"Sounds like fun," Brave stated, leaving Control Freak beside a fallen lamppost with her magic still keeping him captive. She dropped down beside Robin, blocking an attack from the A letter that swung at him. "Miss me?"

"Where have you been?" Robin demanded as he cracked his staff against the A.

"Just picking up the garbage," Brave smirked, gesturing toward Control Freak. "Hah!" She smacked her fists several times into the A, the last hit throwing it backwards. She grinned at Robin, placing her hands on her hips. "But don't worry about me, Robin; I can handle myself." She'd scarcely finished her sentence, however, when her arms suddenly went limp and fell to her sides. Her eyes dulled, turning vacant.

"Brave?" Robin inquired. He caught sight of the look on her face. "Great," he sighed. "Great timing. I _knew_ we should have left her in the tower." He caught sight of the K letter moving toward Brave and jumped in front of her, blocking an incoming attack. "Cyborg!" the leader called. "Watch over Brave!" The robotic man glanced over his shoulder from where he held the N at bay, seeing Robin and Brave's unresponsive stance, and nodded. Throwing the N off to the side where it crashed into the fallen A and lay still, he approached Robin to assist. The Titan just arrived when Raven's body shifted, and the girl took on a look of fright.

"Beast Bo-!" She cut herself off, catching sight of the scowling giant K towering over her, only separated from the girl by Robin and Cyborg's efforts, and shrieked, kneeling on the ground. The emotion covered her head, closing her eyes, and a streak of black zipped out to connect with the plastic letter. The K was flung into the air because of the magical attack, and it sailed over the buildings to land in the ocean a mile or so away with an enormous splash. The letter sank to the bottom, never to rise again. Cyborg and Robin exchanged glances, and then stooped down beside the scared emotion who was crouching on the ground. Close by, Starfire finished defeating the A letter with her starbolts and extraordinary strength, and approached her friends.

"What has happened?" the alien girl asked. "Is friend Brave alright?"

"I don't think Brave is in control anymore," Robin told her. He tried placing a hand on the emotion's shoulder, but the girl trembled and flinched away. "I'm not going to hurt you," he guaranteed his teammate. "The enemies are gone now. Are you okay?"

The emotion took a few quick breaths, wiping at her eyes. "I-I'm sorry," she whispered. "I-I didn't m-mean to d-do that. I-I just got s-so sc-scared that I-I-." The girl sniffed, hiding her face in her hands.

Cyborg quietly pulled her hands down to look at her straight, giving her a brotherly smile. "Am I talking to Timid right now?" he asked the frightened emotion. Timid stared at him for a minute as if only now recognizing him, and then nodded in response. Cyborg helped her up, Robin and Starfire moving away so not to crowd Timid. Both recognized how scared this emotion seemed, and they wanted to give her time to adjust to the change of control. "How about we go back to the tower?" Cyborg suggested. "We can get situated there."

Again, Timid nodded at him, feeling better now she was with someone she'd met before in Raven's mind. Of course, if she was still with Beast Boy she would have felt even more secure, but Cyborg was good enough at the moment. From where he was sitting next to the lamppost, Control Freak cleared his throat.

"Hey, since you all seem to be having a difficult time and need to attend to some stuff, how about you let me off this one time," he proposed. "No one'll have to know about it! I'll just leave the money here and it'll be like this all never happened!"

Robin and Starfire looked at each other.

Noting the expressions on their faces, Control Freak's heart sank. "Do I still have to go to jail?"

Robin pulled a real pair of handcuffs from his belt. Even though Brave's/Timid's powers continued to keep the criminal captive, the leader didn't want to take the chance that Control Freak could escape. "What do you think?" he asked the squat villain.

* * *

A green teenager made his way over the rocky floor of a valley surrounded by gray craggy mountains at a slow pace. Beast Boy didn't _enjoy_ walking through this death trap which almost promised certain doom, but he could think of no other way to find Raven; Timid's leading him here had been the only hint the shape-shifter had gotten to his friend's location. Beast Boy was a determined guy, although it did help that he was a little more than anxious to get away from the place Timid had abruptly disappeared. He suspected that she'd vanished because it was her turn out in the real world and that she was fine, but that didn't mean Beast Boy had no reason to be concerned for both himself and the emotion. There always was a good chance that he was wrong; it happened more than him being right anyway, so no one could blame Beast Boy for his rattled nerves.

Beast Boy cautioned against calling out to Raven –for who knew what monsters crept around in this valley of potential death? - but his worry for her outweighed his concern for his own wellbeing. Still though, his voice was soft as he called her name.

"Raven?" he whispered quietly, feeling like a scared mouse that poked his nose out of a hole in the wall to see if he could exit his hiding place safely without a cat pouncing on him. When there was no answer, Beast Boy swallowed and called again, a little louder this time. "H-Hey Raven? You here? I-If you are, I'd like it i-if you said something because I'm kinda getting weirded out by this p-place…" Great, he was stammering now. Who was he: Timid? Not that Timid was to be blamed for her frightened demeanor; she was an emotion, and this place _was _really freaky. Beast Boy shook his head. Those excuses were fine for Timid, but the shape-shifter wasn't an emotion; he was human –however green he may be- and he had to help Raven. Taking a deep breath, Beast Boy shouted at the top of his lungs, "RAVEN?! YOU THERE?!"

His voice echoed back to him, bouncing off of the mountains that surrounded the rock valley. It reached a flock of four-eyed ravens, and the altered animals squawked, taking flight in a flurry of black feathers. Somewhere in the distance, a loud noise resembling thunder rumbled, and a drop of sweat slid down Beast Boy's neck.

"Oops," he grinned, scratching his ear nervously.

Although the rabbit in him wanted to turn fluffy tail and hide, Beast Boy grit his teeth and continued onwards, although he did make sure to avoid standing in the very center of the path out of fear that whatever had thundered up ahead would appear and decide it was hungry. Beast Boy was against being eaten for two reasons: he was a vegetarian and he was quite fond of his life. Not to mention being eaten would probably hurt a whole lot.

Eventually Beast Boy reached a section in the valley where large clumps of rocks began to cluster into bigger groups, making it more difficult to see what could be around every corner. The shape-shifter was worried that he was going to get lost again, and now that he thought about it, the way the rocks were beginning to press closer together reminded him of the maze he'd gone through when first meeting Timid several years ago. Beast Boy was remembering the encounter when something caught his eye. He backtracked and peered around a large boulder.

Dressed in a sharp crimson cloak, a Raven look-a-like stood in a small circular section that was surrounded by a few rock pillars like the one Beast Boy hid behind. The counterpart was sitting cross-legged on the ground, her eyes closed and hood pulled far over her face. She seemed to be meditating, but did emotions _need _to meditate? Beast Boy didn't know, and he wasn't really thinking about it, because what had caught his eye was not the scarlet emotion sitting on the rocky ground; it was who was behind her.

Her arms were chained to a rock with glowing red shackles and her head was drooped to her chest, but Beast Boy had no trouble recognizing that it was Raven who was bound to the stone. He bit his lip. The dark girl seemed unconscious but otherwise unhurt. The crimson emotion's presence, who Beast Boy knew could only be Rage, seemed to make sense now; she was guarding Raven. How to get his friend _away_ from her guard was the question. Beast Boy scanned the ground around him, landing on a smooth stone near his foot. He stooped down, picking it up, and examined the rock. It was large enough that maybe if he threw it into something far off, it would cause a racket and distract Rage for long enough for Beast Boy to figure out how to free Raven. Nodding to himself, the shape-shifter drew back his arm and chucked it into the distance.

Beast Boy's stone sailed over the first few pillars of rock before hitting a particularly tall one with a loud _crack _and bouncing back to land heavily on the green teenager's foot. He jumped back, yelling in surprise and pain and grabbing at his toes before remembering he was trying to be quiet. Beast Boy slapped his hand over his mouth, glaring at the rock, impressed with how bad of a throw it had been and also fascinated with just how stupid he was.

The swishing of air was barely audible from where Rage knelt, and Beast Boy quickly hopped away–still clutching his foot- to hid behind another rock a moment before the crimson emotion appeared where he'd been seconds ago. Rage swiveled her head around, searching for the origin of the shout she'd heard. Her eyes, though two instead of four, were bright red as she investigated the area. Realizing she wasn't about to find whoever had been behind the rock by looking in one place, Rage slowly started floating in and out of the maze of rocks like a lion stalking prey, glancing over her shoulder at Raven's still form every few seconds.

Beast Boy held his breath as the emotion steadily drew nearer to where he stood, the slight throbbing in his foot drown out by his heart beating loudly in his ears. He had no idea what would happen to him if he died inside of Raven's mind, but he was certain it would be bad. His body might never be found, or perhaps he'd limply be taken out of the mirror by the giant claw-like hand that brought him here in the first place. And what would happen to Raven if he died? How would she get free? What would happen to her body?

Rage was just one rock away from finding the shape-shifter, and as Beast Boy closed his eyes awaiting the end, a booming crash came from somewhere in the distance. Rage whipped her head around, staring at the location of the noise, and then she was gone in an instant. Beast Boy, hardly able to believe he'd gone from such bad luck to good within only a few minutes, exhaled with relief. Not wanting his change of fortune to disappear quite yet, he quickly ran out from his hiding place to where Raven was bound.

"Raven," he whispered, glancing over his shoulder in case Rage decided to show up at that moment, but there was no sign of the angry emotion yet. "Raven, wake up, please!" The girl gave no response. Swallowing, Beast Boy shook her shoulders. When again she didn't awaken, the shape-shifter gently patted her cheek with his hand as he'd heard was supposed to work when waking up people. If she was conscious, Beast Boy knew Raven would have sent him to another dimension, or in the very least have slapped him for that, but Raven remained still. Knowing he had very little time until Rage came back, Beast Boy decided to worry about waking Raven up after he had the dark girl free from her glowing red chains. The shape-shifter frowned, examining the crimson shackles that kept his friend fastened to the rock. By the look of them, it seemed that some spell had been cast upon the metal. Beast Boy gave the nearest chain an experimental tug and was shocked when it glowed white at his touch, proceeding to fall apart an instant later in his hands. Beast Boy pulled at the other shackle, and it too broke into pieces as easily as tearing paper, causing the green teenager to wonder if he had somehow gained super strength within the past five seconds.

The shape-shifter was suddenly struck with the thought that he was forgetting something, and his reminder came a moment later when Raven collapsed heavily on the ground, her chains no longer there to keep her upright. Beast Boy winced. "Oops," he mumbled, kneeling down beside her and throwing her arm over his shoulder. "Sorry, Rae." He knew that he had to get Raven out of there quickly, so he adjusted her into a position so that she was leaning against his back, and then shifted into a horse. Raven lay across his back with closed eyes, and once he saw that she wasn't going to fall, Beast Boy galloped off in the direction opposite he'd seen Rage go.

After several minutes passed and he suspected that he'd gotten far enough away from the rocky bolder Raven had been bound to, Beast Boy shifted back into human behind a particularly large rock, once more supporting Raven with her arm over his shoulder and his hand at her waist. "Raven?" he asked anxiously, kneeling on the ground with her. "Rae, come on, wake up." The boy scanned his surroundings, praying for some friendly emotion to show up and help them. If Raven stayed unconscious, he had no idea how he would be able to bring her all the way to the portal, let alone get them both out of her mind. It also worried the shape-shifter that his friend could be injured or in pain, and he knew nothing about it. He looked back at Raven. "Raven, it would be really great if you could wake up right now," he almost pleading her. Beast Boy was surprised when a soft groan escaped Raven's pale lips and she blinked her violet eyes open with a quick intake of breath. Beast Boy's face lit up. "Raven!"

Before either of them could say any more, a furious howl erupted from somewhere the distance, sounding very similar to that of Rage's, and cracks of thunder were heard. Sweat dripped down Beast Boy's spine and he swallowed. Had he not gotten far enough away from the angry girl?

Raven shook her head, confused. "W-what's going on?" she asked, the sound of actual emotion in her voice for once. Then the dark girl noticed Beast Boy supporting her and her expression fell into a blank slate. "What do you think you're doing?" she questioned, impassive once again.

Beast Boy blushed. "S-sorry. It's just, you were unconscious, and I had no other way of getting you out of-." He cut off at Raven's glare, grinning nervously. "Right, sorry." He released her and moved away. Looking around, Raven lowered her hood.

"Are we… in my mind?" she inquired quietly after a few seconds. Beast Boy nodded, and Raven narrowed her violet eyes at him. "And why are you in here?"

"Uh- Well, you see, it started this morning when you came in after dumping my tofu on my head, and you were acting all weird, like smiling, laughing, telling jokes, hugging-."

"_What?_" Raven hissed.

Beast Boy was quick to explain. "But we found out that it was Happy and not you! And she said that you'd gotten stuck inside the mirror and only one person could come in after you to get you out, so…"

"You went in my mirror," Raven finished plainly. "And the others were okay with this because…?"

Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head. "Well… They weren't really, but Happy told me that I should go anyway. She thought the other emotions would have more fun with me here than if Cyborg or Robin or Star went, so I came in." Raven massaged her temples. That sounded like something Happy would have said.

"Some future advice," Raven grumbled. "Never listen to Happy." Beast Boy nodded, and both he and Raven jumped as another roar of fury reached their ears, closer this time. Raven looked at the green teenager in front of her. "Dare I ask why Rage is so mad?"

"Because Beast Boy rescued you from her."

Raven and Beast Boy whipped around to settle their sights on a soft purple-clad emotion who was crouching down in front of them. Beast Boy blinked in surprise, wondering when she'd gotten there and how come he hadn't noticed, but Raven just glared at her. "And who are you?" she demanded. Seeing Beast Boy's puzzlement, she rolled her eyes. "I don't know all of my emotions, Beast Boy. I don't talk to them very much if I can help it. They tend to speak with me more than the other way around."

The emotion who was stooped near the two peered around the rock. "I will explain later, but first we have to get Raven somewhere safer than this," she said as she got to her feet. "Follow me."

Raven and Beast Boy exchanged glances, and Raven sighed. "It doesn't seem like we have much of a choice." Beast Boy nodded, standing, and Raven did the same, but when she got to her feet, however, she misjudged how strong her legs were and slumped back to the ground. Beast Boy quickly dropped beside her, catching Raven before she landed.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Fine," Raven replied shortly, not meeting his eyes and focusing on a rock nearby instead. Nearby, the purple-clad emotion smiled slightly at them, but Beast Boy didn't notice. He was busy feeling like had just redeemed himself for before when he'd accidentally made Raven fall from the rock and hadn't caught her. Even though Raven had been unconscious, that didn't mean he didn't feel guilty about it.

Raven brushed Beast Boy off, standing this time without a problem. "Let's go," she commanded. "Rage is getting closer." The purple-cloaked emotion nodded, levitating, and flew over the earth away from where Rage was being furious. Raven floated into the air and Beast Boy transformed into a hawk, and the two followed the nameless emotion across the unfamiliar territory.


	5. Residing Inside A Cave

**For those of you who asked, don't worry, this story isn't going to finish anytime soon even though Beast Boy found Raven. I just thought it would be a little interesting for Raven to see her emotions interacting with Beast Boy… Heh, heh. **

**Okay, onto the story!**

* * *

"This will be our safe haven," the purple-cloaked emotion murmured, lowering herself to the ground from the sky. Raven and Beast Boy landed beside her, Raven wearing a skeptical expression as she examined the place her lookalike suggested.

"A cave?" she asked. "This tiny, wide open cave is a safe place for us to stay in?" Crossing her arms, Raven rolled her eyes. "Because Rage will never think to look in here for us."

The emotion shook her head patiently. "It is safe for us all to go into because it is out of Rage's domain. Even though this modest cave is on the edge of it, she should not be able to sense us here."

"Wow, what, you mean she could sense us before?!" Beast Boy exclaimed, placing his hands on his head. "Dude, how come she didn't find us like right after I freed Raven?!" Raven glared at the shape-shifter. She didn't like having to be saved by anyone; Raven was far too stubborn to admit that she needed help sometimes. It didn't help her tempter knowing that she'd been unconscious when he freed her.

"She was perhaps too upset to think straight," the soft emotion replied, gently smiling at him. "After Rage calmed down, she would have had no trouble locating us if we had remained, but now that we are out of her province, it is unlikely she can find us despite the fact that we are together."

"And whose domain are we in now?" Raven demanded.

"Mine." The purple-cloaked emotion turned and headed inside the cave before Raven could ask any more questions. Seeing that they should follow, Raven and Beast Boy entered the cave as well, Rage's howls still audible in the distance. The emotion didn't stop moving as she walked further into the cavern, though she did speak, her voice still quiet and soft. "As this is the very edge of my territory, it still looks similar to Rage's, but if you were to go further into my domain, you would see it is not so… barren. Such a place like Rage's feels too lonesome for me."

Beast Boy fell into step beside Raven, glancing at the dark girl who seemed focused on the emotion that led them further down into the cave. He nervously cleared his throat. "How are you doing?" he asked her.

Raven spared him a quick look. "Fine," was her short reply.

She seemed unwilling to talk at the moment, but, as usual, Beast Boy didn't catch on to this. "So, do you remember how you got all chained up and stuff? What happened before that?" Raven shrugged. She had no memory of what had happened. One moment she was meditating around her irritating emotions and the next she was waking up with Beast Boy standing beside her. "And what about Rage?" Beast Boy wondered, almost talking to himself. "Did she have something to do with it? I'm thinking she did, or otherwise she wouldn't have been guarding you. And how come you're not in control your body? Do you think we'll be able to go back to the tower soon, or will we be stuck in here for a while? Not that it's a bad thing, being in here, but I'd rather get this all figured out before-."

"Beast Boy!" Raven barked, whirling around to face him directly. Beast Boy snapped his mouth shut, looking at her with wide eyes. Raven glared at the shape-shifter. "I have enough to deal with right now that I shouldn't have to put up with your pointless babbling! I need to think!"

Beast Boy's ears drooped, and Raven spun away, stalking down further into the cave and brushing past the purple-emotion who had been watching their conversation as she did. Beast Boy sighed, beginning to walk after Raven, and the emotion joined him. "She doesn't mean that," the girl apologized, her voice gentle and comforting after Raven's harsh tone. "She just needs to take time to herself so she can recover from everything that has happened."

"Yeah, I know," Beast Boy replied, running a hand through his green hair. "This is what she's like; I'm used to it."

"It doesn't mean she should treat you that way," the emotion replied, brushing up against his arm. "You're her friend, and she really is grateful for how caring and kind you are to her, regardless of how she responds."

"Really?" This news surprised Beast Boy. "I thought I always irritated her though."

The purple-clad emotion laughed a little. "Well, you do, but that's simply part of your charm."

"My what?" Beast Boy asked, unsure if he'd heard her words right.

"Your charm," the emotion repeated, smiling gently. Her hand was now touching his forearm, and she squeezed it gently. "It's part of who you are: your personality. Your goofy smile, pure laugh, the sweet way you try to include everyone, your charm; that all makes up Beast Boy, and Beast Boy wouldn't be Beast Boy without a few 'bothersome' jokes now and then."

Blushing slightly, Beast Boy smirked. "I didn't know it was compliment Beast Boy day!" he kidded, running a hand through his hair. "I should come here more often!"

The emotion nodded, imperceptibly drawing closer to him. "Yes, you should," she murmured, lowering her hand. "Although, next time I would suggest taking care to not almost get caught by Rage when she's in a less than desirable mood."

"Wait a second." Beast Boy blinked, trying to connect the dots. "Wait a second! You're the one who distracted Rage before, aren't you?! Right before I was gonna be found by her, right?!" The emotion nodded, her eyes shining brightly. "Whoa, I didn't know that! Well, thanks for the save! I like it when I stay alive!"

The purple-clad girl smiled again. "Anytime." The two reached the bottom of the cave –more of a dead end than anything- where Raven stood impatiently, tapping her foot with crossed arms. Apparently she'd been hoping for a longer path to stalk down. The cave was nothing special, and the only light provided was from a small candle that sat on the floor. Raven's violet eyes hovered over the emotion and Beast Boy, who were standing surprisingly close, before giving an irritated sigh.

"What is being in this cave supposed to accomplish?" Raven requested shortly.

"We are waiting for Rage's anger to subside," the emotion reminded, lowering herself down to the ground and crossing her legs. "And you need time to rest and recuperate. Don't try to deny it," she stated calmly before Raven could snap a retort at her. "I am part of you, and I know you need to recover your strength." Raven glowered at the girl for a moment before giving a sigh and dropping to the ground in the lotus position as well. Beast Boy sat down too, but after looking at the two girls nearby who both seemed to have intentions of meditating –which he found no interest in– he quickly spoke up.

"So…," he said, and two pairs of violet eyes fell on him. Beast Boy tapped his fingers together. "How long do you think it will take for Rage to calm down exactly?" The soft purple-clad emotion shrugged slightly, and Raven just frowned at him. Beast Boy sighed at his friend's response. "Come on, Rae! You can't still be mad at me! I know it's been only a few minutes, but what did I do wrong?"

"For a start," Raven began, staring hard at him, "you came into my mind without permission. _Again._"

"But I was trying to-!" Beast Boy tried to say, but Raven ignored his interruption.

"I could easily have handled this whole situation without you barging in to make things worse," she countered irritably.

"Raven, please listen to him," the emotion implored, placing a hand on Raven's shoulder which the dark girl shook off at once. "He helped you."

Raven shook her head. "I could have dealt with this by myself," she snapped, pointing at the green teenager beside her. "Beast Boy didn't need to come in here to 'help'! Things might just get worse because he's here now, and it's not like I don't have enough things to deal with at the moment!"

"You are being unreasonable-."

"No, I'm _not!_" Raven shouted. Her voice echoed throughout the cave, and Beast Boy cast a nervous over his shoulder at the exit. The dark sorceress seemed to have forgotten that they were trying to hide from Rage. Much to the shape-shifter's relief, the wrathful emotion didn't appear in the cave.

"You _couldn't_ have handled it," the purple-clad emotion stated, her voice suddenly the harshest it had been since Raven and Beast Boy met her. "You couldn't have managed it because you were unconscious due to Rage's spell that she placed on the chains, and none of the other emotions could have rescued you. Beast Boy was the only one who could free you from the chains because they were enchanted to repel all the other emotions, and since Beast Boy isn't an emotion, he was able to break them easily." Raven opened her mouth to speak, but the purple-clad emotion wasn't done. "_You_ couldn't have freed yourself because the chains also had a spell that kept you in a state of dreamless sleep. If Beast Boy hadn't come along, you might never have gotten free."

Raven's eyes were wide, as were Beast Boy's. Neither of them had known those things, and it took a lot to process such information. The emotion sighed, lowering her voice back to the level it had been before she'd erupted. "You have to understand that I'm saying this for Beast Boy's sake. He is not to blame for what happened here; the opposite in fact. You should be thanking him."

Raven jerked her head to the side, looking away from Beast Boy almost angrily. The purple-clad emotion leaned closer to the shape-shifter, placing a hand on his shoulder. "She's not going to apologize," she sighed sadly.

Beast Boy smiled at Raven's back. "That's okay. She doesn't have to." The emotion looked at him in amazement, wondering how the boy could always be so understanding. A few minutes passed, and eventually pulling down her hood, Raven turned around and faced the other two. Her eyes hovered over Beast Boy for a moment, and she opened her mouth as if to say something to him, but then moved her attention to her lookalike.

"I… would appreciate it if at least a few of my questions could be answered," she murmured, her anger seemingly gone. The purple-clad emotion nodded as Beast Boy exhaled. It was always nice when Raven wasn't furious anymore, especially at him. "For starters, what emotion are you?" the dark girl asked.

The emotion tilted her head, a tender smile on her lips. "You mean you don't know yet?"

"No," Raven stated, crossing her arms. "I don't. That's why I asked."

"Really?" Beast Boy jumped in. "Come on, Rae, even _I _know who she is!"

"What?" The dark sorceress was shocked. Beast Boy couldn't know before she did! It was _her _mind! How was the green teenager able to know something about herself before _she_ knew? There was no way he was smarter than her. "How?" Raven demanded.

Beast Boy shrugged. "Well, it wasn't really hard. I just paid attention to her personality! Affection, right?" he addressed the purple-cloaked emotion. Affection brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, smiling and nodding again.

His correct guess didn't help suppress Raven's surprise. "H-How did you figure this out?"

"It was kinda obvious," Beast Boy smirked, amused that for once he knew something before Raven did. This didn't happen often. "She kept complimenting me and doesn't have as many personal space issues as you usually do and didn't yell at me at all… and, you know, was being affectionate-y and stuff." Raven thought back to when she'd noticed Affection standing closer to Beast Boy than she herself normally would have, and felt her jaw tighten slightly.

"And why," she stated, standing and moving so she was right above Beast Boy, "did you not tell me this earlier?"

Beast Boy fidgeted, his ears quivering a tad. "I kinda thought you already knew with it being your mind and all."

Frustration was obvious on Raven's face, though for once it wasn't aimed at Beast Boy. The dark girl glanced at Affection, who wore a warm smile on her face that Raven rarely saw on her own when looking in the mirror, and then sank to the ground, frowning. She was now positioned in between Affection and Beast Boy.

"How is this possible?" Raven murmured, speaking her thoughts. She drew her knees up to her chest, hanging her arms over them. "You knew one of my emotions before I did, and she's a part of me. How could you know me better than I know myself?"

Beast Boy scooted closer to her, a small worried grin on his face. She seemed almost… lost, judging by the confused look in her indigo eyes and her closed body language, though Beast Boy couldn't blame her. How would he feel if he was in her position? "Please don't be mad, Rae," he requested. "I didn't mean to. Besides, it probably helped that I had seen Affection's picture in Knowledge's database memories emotion thingy before this."

Raven snapped her head to look at him, her hair whipping around violently as she stared at him, shocked. "You _looked _through my memories?!"

"Not… all of them…," Beast Boy coughed, realizing that he hadn't thought about how angry Raven would be once discovering this information. Thanks to his big mouth, he didn't have to wait long to find out. Luckily for him, Raven was feeling a little bad –a _little_, mind you- about yelling at him before, so she settled with just giving him her famous cold glare.

Affection got to her feet, glancing toward the exit of the cave where at last a certain crimson emotion's howls of fury had subsided. "I believe enough time has passed that you should be allowed to leave without encountering Rage now." She beckoned for the two to stand as well, which they did after taking a moment to hear the silence for themselves. Beast Boy, feeling suddenly energized now that he was certain his life wasn't in danger anymore, darted past the two girls, grinning. His feet pattered softly over the dry rock underfoot as he ran ahead, and Raven couldn't help but notice Affection was watching the shape-shifter with a loving smile.

"No," she growled.

Affection looked up at Raven with bright, warm eyes that Raven couldn't believe were a replica of her own. "Sorry Raven?"

"No," Raven repeated. "I know you're my 'love' side, but don't go after my friends, and definitely not Beast Boy. They are my friends, and that is all. I don't want you making things awkward by causing them to think otherwise."

A smile was tempted to appear on Affection's lips, but she pressed them together. "I am sorry Raven, but I cannot help whom I love."

"Try," Raven retorted, walking faster. Her cloak swished by Affection.

The emotion effortlessly caught up to her. "I know you wish to be left to your thoughts at the moment, but I yearn to have one question answered before you are." She lowered her voice. "Why can I not be affectionate when it comes to Beast Boy?"

Raven lifted an eyebrow, her eyes shifting to meet Affection's. "I never said that."

This time Affection couldn't fight the smile that brightened her face. "You did less than a minute ago."

Raven rolled her eyes, disbelieving, or seeming so. "Sure."

Affection didn't try to convince her; doing so would serve nothing except to make Raven angry. "I misheard then," the soft emotion dipped her head. "But if you had said something like that, what would be the reason?"

"I didn't say it."

"But if you had?" Affection prompted.

Raven's answer was too quick for someone who hadn't thought about the question before. "Because Beast Boy is my friend, and just my friend. _And_ he's here, meaning that you are more likely to show care for Beast Boy before anyone else, because you wouldn't have the chance to be affectionate some other time as the only other people here are emotions and me. He wouldn't return any feelings that you might show him anyway, because I'm sure he wouldn't feel the same. Who would like someone as creepy and dangerous as us?" Her last sentence was quieter than the others. She took a breath, recomposing herself. "There is your motive behind why I _might_ say something improbable like that."

Affection nodded, and then looked down the cave where Beast Boy had run off, her slim fingers brushing the side of the cave in a tender manner. "You will be safer together, Raven," she murmured. Raven narrowed her eyes as the emotion continued. "You don't seem to know how emotions like us come into existence. We appear once we have been felt strongly a series of times, all if not most occurring close to each other. A few like Knowledge, Happy, Timid, and Brave become permanent after being arisen enough." She turned her head to gently rest her gaze on Raven, who swallowed, suddenly nervous at the kindhearted expression her lookalike wore. Raven doubted she could ever bring herself to seem so… _filled_… with emotion. "While I represent the affection you feel in general for your friends and comrades, I also stand for those who you feel more for than that."

"… And… And how close," Raven wondered, almost fearing the answer though she had to know, "are you to being permanent?"

Affection didn't give her a response at first, though her eyes seemed to dance joyously at Raven's asking of the question. When she did reply, the answer wasn't direct, but it still affected Raven almost as much as if Affection had told her straight. "My emotion is the strongest for who you feel it for. It is directed toward the ones you care for the most, and you have felt it for someone a lot recently."

Raven stopped walking and stared at her emotion for a moment in silence, saying nothing with an unreadable expression. If she'd been planning to speak, however, she would have been interrupted by an alarmed shout from the entrance of the cave. Instantly, the two girls recognized it as Beast Boy's, and they were running toward his voice a moment later.

Upon emerging from the cave they almost tripped over the green shape-shifter who was sitting on the ground with a shocked and surprised expression on his face. Raven and Affection spoke at the same time, making their words sound like they came from one person. "Beast Boy!"

Affection knelt beside him, putting her hand on his arm in concern, but the green Titan seemed unharmed if only stunned. Raven noticed that his green eyes were fixed on something, and following his gaze, she instantly tensed. Stepping in front of Beast Boy and Affection -the emotion being oblivious to what was going on- Raven's hands glowed black with magic.

Her four eyes radiating bright crimson light, Rage let out a low chuckle that sounded too similar to Trigon's for both Raven and Beast Boy's comfort. The dark emotion's hood was down, which surprised Raven as she expected her hateful double to relish in the darkness it provided, and though Rage's hair and skin was like Raven's, thin red scratches were visible on her cheeks and forehead. Scars wouldn't remain when the wounds healed, for Rage was an emotion and she wasn't affected like people outside the mirror the same way by injuries, but Raven knew why the marks were there; Rage had inflicted them upon herself so she wouldn't look like Raven, no matter how painful the process had been. Rage hated how her original hid her emotions, the way she looked, the way she acted, and most of all she hated Raven. Having to look like her was just another blow to the angry emotion's pride.

Yet, Rage was now being given the convenient opportunity to take all her fury and wrath out on the one who made her the way she was, however unplanned it might have been, and the emotion had every intention of taking it. Opening her mouth, she spoke. One of the few things that she took pleasure in was that she sounded nothing like Raven's impassive voice.

"You think you have power to defend yourself after the spell I put on the chains that held you?" she chuckled, her voice deep and eerie. "The effects won't have faded that quickly. You're still weak; not that right now is much difference than after you're fully rested."

"How did you find us?!" Raven demanded, ignoring the crimson-cloaked emotion's horrible, but still truthful, words. Even as she spoke, Raven struggled to keep her hands glowing with magic, and a pressing ache appeared in her stomach. Rage was right; Raven didn't have a lot of power left to fight with, but she wasn't about to give up just because of that.

"You gave me the slip," Rage growled, her fists clenching. "You almost escaped!" A thin aura appeared around her hands for a moment, but then it faded and Rage's scowl melted into a sneer. "But I heard you shouting, arguing with this wretched emotion and that infuriating buffoon-," she gestured toward Affection and Beast Boy who both frowned at the offensive insults, "-and followed the sound of your delightfully angry voice." Raven tensed, taking a defensive position, and Rage peered at her lookalike with scorn on her scratched face. "Surrender, foolish girl. It will make things easier on both of us."

"As if," Raven spat.

Rage narrowed two of her four eyes at her. "Pathetic! You're not strong enough to protect yourself, let alone these two insignificant creatures!"

"Uh, hey!" Beast Boy protested. "I'm right here! I have feelings too!"

"_Beast Boy_," Raven growled. The last thing she needed was to have Rage turn her attention to him.

Thankfully, Rage appeared to be deaf to the boy's voice, continuing to address only the defiant girl before her. "You are barely able to stand against me when you've attempted to fight in the past! _Now will be no different_. Or are you a coward, one not to fight like your heroic façade that you've taken on?!" Rage rumbled. Raven fell still, her whole body rigid with silent anger. Rage sensed the resentment brewing within and a wicked grin spread across her face.

"Don't Raven! She's baiting you!" Affection cried, seeing the looks on both Raven and Rage's faces.

"Shut up!" Rage roared suddenly, snapping her eyes to Affection. The air around her crackled, and, whipping her head back to Raven, she thundered, "Darkness will consume you!" Her hand shot out, and a blast of red zipped forth, cracking firmly into Raven's chest and throwing the dark girl back a few feet. She landed on the ground with a heavy thud.

"Raven!" Beast Boy scrambled over to her, kneeling beside the girl and leaning over her with an anxious expression. Raven shook her head as she sat up, her eyes squeezed shut in pain. "Are you okay?"

"Do I _look_ okay?" Raven muttered through clenched teeth.

"Interference is not allowed!" Rage screamed, firing at Raven and Beast Boy with another crimson blast of jagged power. The two braced for impact, but none came. Floating up from the ground, Affection summoned a black shield to protect the two from the evil magic, and Rage's strike dispersed upon hitting it. Another attack was fired upon the shield, and this time the explosion caused Affection's power to waver. Without hesitation, the purple-cloaked emotion dropped the shield, splaying her hands outward, and a layer of heavy mist rose from the ground, trapping Rage within it. Affection spun around, stooping next to Beast Boy and Raven.

"She should be distracted for a few seconds, and that will have to be enough time to get you both out of here," the emotion stated.

"What about you?" Beast Boy asked, helping Raven to her feet, his hands hovering close by in case she fell.

Affection gave him a quick, though warm, smile. "I can escape anytime I need to if I'm alone. You two are the ones who need to leave first." Raven nodded, knowing the emotion was right. Already the heavy fog behind them was swirling less and less. Rage's howls were almost deafening, but at least that meant they knew where she was. Affection held her hands out to Raven, who took them. A spark of magic jumped between their palms. "I'll give you as much energy as I can spare, but just know that the power of love isn't strongest at combat." Raven dipped her head, taking a deep breath in preparation for her incantation. Before she could open her mouth, however, Affection hesitated. Blushing a little, she turned to Beast Boy and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. His green eyes widened and jaw dropped a margin at the same time that Raven's did.

"I'm sorry, but I know that I'll never get another chance like this," Affection apologized almost shyly. Glancing at the mist, which had at last parted to reveal Rage seething at the three in front of her, the emotion of love closed her eyes and chanted in synch with Raven, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" A wave of black enveloped Raven and Beast Boy, and they vanished inches from Rage's outstretched hands.


	6. The Swamp

**You did not deserve to be made to wait TWO WEEKS for me to update, but alas, that's exactly what I made you do. I'm sorry guys! So here's a little longer of a chapter for you to read!**

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The air was still throughout the swamp. Trees heavy with leaves hung silently in the air, dangling above a shallow pool of murky water, and overgrown weeds clogged up the shorelines. A slight breeze brushed by a tree, and one lone leaf detached from its branch. Gradually, it floated down through the air until, landing without a sound on the surface below, it sent a single ripple over the water to touch the shore.

This quiet and tranquil picture was destroyed a moment later when two Titans, one purple and one green, appeared with a flash of magic in the air above the shallow pond and fell into it with an enormous splash, both yelling with surprise as the cold water soaked them thoroughly. Raven was the first one on her feet, and as the pond only reached up to her waist, she stalked out of the water in a huff. Beast Boy had a vacant look to his eye, but soon the chilly temperature of the water in the marsh caused him to follow Raven onto higher land as well. As Raven muttered beneath her breath in angry tones, the two began squeezing the liquid out of their attires.

"Can't believe she…. And after I told her specifically not… Has to listen… What was she…? Who does she think…?"

Beast Boy could only faintly hear some of the phrases coming from his friend's mouth, but that was fine with him because he had other things on his mind. A lot of questions were nagging at the shape-shifter, which actually wasn't that uncommon for him, but the type of inquiries that he had now were far off of the usual problems he had bouncing around in his head. Blinking, he realized that Raven had finished wringing the water out of her cloak and was now walking away through this swampy environment they'd found themselves in at a brisk pace.

"Rae, hang on!" Beast Boy called, scrambling to catch up to her.

With an irritated sigh, Raven stopped, placing her hands on her hips. "What, Beast Boy?"

Not expecting to have her listen so easily, Beast Boy started to stumble over his words. "Well, I was wondering… err… With the whole thing and uh…. Rage was uh…. I-um… About Affection with her-…"

Raven exhaled, dropping her hands by her sides so her cloak brushed forward and covered more of her body. "Don't worry about Affection," she stated, having caught the last part of his statement. "That emotion was just being who she was made to be. Her… actions meant nothing."

"Oh. Really?" Beast Boy was naturally one who was confused easy, and such a trait often worked against him. Now was one of those times. Raven was telling him one thing where Affection's kiss on the cheek had shown him something else. Beast Boy never had been good understanding girls, and this was just making everything more complex and worse for him. With a sad frown, the shape-shifter put two fingers to the center of his forehead and made small circles with them.

"What," Raven questioned, feeling very baffled at this bizarre action that was coming from her teammate, "are you doing?"

Beast Boy paused with his index fingers still pressed against the front of his head. "Isn't this some weird thing that you do to get rid of headaches?"

Rolling her eyes, Raven reached forward and grasped his wrists, moving his hands so he was touching his temples instead of the middle of his forehead. "You were a little off." His eyes lit up, and Beast Boy nodded, trying to massage his temples as he'd seen Raven do in the past. If she did it so much, then it _must_ get rid of headaches. Almost as if in response to his thoughts, the dark sorceress added, "It doesn't work all that well. Believe me, I've tried."

"Aw, man." Beast Boy lowered his hands.

"What could you possibly have a headache from anyway?" Raven asked. The most common reason that _she _used the gesture was because she was irritated with Beast Boy. It never occurred to her that the feeling might be mutual at times.

Beast Boy shrugged. "I'm confused."

"About what?"

"A lot of stuff."

Raven groaned. "What else is new?" Beast Boy looked at her with wide eyes, and the girl shook her head. "Fine, what do you want to know? I suppose I owe you a few explanations as you did help me before."

Beast Boy brightened, his ears perking up. Raven didn't tolerate him much when it came to things like answering a lot of questions, so he was determined to make the most out of this opportunity while he could. "Okay, first about Affection." Raven's eyes narrowed and Beast Boy gave her a guilty grin. He couldn't help that he was curious. "What did she mean by she didn't think she'd get another chance?"

Raven lifted an eyebrow. She'd expected a different, more complicated and in-depth question. Then again, this was Beast Boy she was dealing with at the moment, and for once she was grateful for his inability to contemplate circumstances very well. "I suspect she didn't think she would have another chance to kiss… _or_ show affection to anyone for a long time besides other emotions, and they're all a part of me, so that could be a little peculiar if she tried." It was close enough to the truth. That wasn't the only reason that Affection had said what she had, and Raven knew it, but she wasn't about to tell Beast Boy this.

"Oh. I guess I didn't think about that." Beast Boy bit his lip, thinking. Raven felt a tad of guilt nip at her stomach. She shouldn't lie to Beast Boy, especially after all he'd done for her, but just thinking about Affection and what she had said to the dark sorceress about love was enough to make the calm and collected girl shy away like Timid. Dealing with emotions, in and out of her mirror, as simple as it may seem, was not something Raven had explored very thoroughly.

"Next question," Raven requested, hoping to get the questions over and done with as quickly as possible.

Beast Boy nodded, pausing for a moment to come up with his next inquiry. "The portal…," he began. "The portal out of your mirror; it's not here, right?"

"No, not here in the swamp."

"Then why didn't you and Affection just teleport us to the portal place?" Beast Boy asked. "Wouldn't we have gotten out of here faster and not have to worry about running into Rage or anyone? Or any_thing_?" he added with a nervous glance over his shoulder as if expecting to see some monster rising out of the swamp.

Raven sighed. "I can't. My emotions would probably sense the focus of power, and Rage could possibly locate us. We don't have to worry about that now though, because Affection was keeping her busy when the spell was cast." She glanced at a tree nearby. She wasn't going to lie again, even if the truth might make Beast Boy anxious. "…And I'm not strong enough. Whatever spell that Rage cast on those chains, it was powerful enough to drain some of my energy. I'll be fine," she added quickly, seeing Beast Boy's fretted expression, "but it'll take some time for me to regain my power. We might be stuck here for a while."

Beast Boy gave her a small smirk. "Well, I knew that could happen when I first came in here! Besides, I don't mind spending a bit of quality time with you!"

Raven glared at him. "This isn't a joke, Beast Boy. I won't be able to protect you in here because of this."

The green teenager standing in front of her looked surprised. "What, that's what you're worried about? Dude, since when have I needed protecting?" he grinned. Raven frowned, and he quickly added. "Don't answer that. But that's not what I'm bothered about, anyway Rae."

Raven crossed her arms, giving her famous expectant look. "Then what?"

"Well, you know." Beast Boy shrugged. "What happens if we get attacked again? How will you defend yourself without your powers?"

Raven's immediate response was defensive. "I'm not helpless," she growled.

"I know!" Beast Boy was quick to assure, putting his hands up in front of him with fingers splayed out. "I know, trust me! You've given me more than enough bumps and bruises to know you can fight way better than me!" Beast Boy tugged at his collar. "But what I meant was I wasn't worried about having to _be_ protected, Raven. I just don't want anyone to get hurt, especially not you. I mean, you've gone through a whole bunch of stuff today already! You deserve to have a break once in a while, right?" Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head, realizing just how cheesy he must have sounded, but Raven only relaxed, realizing that she shouldn't have jumped to conclusions.

"I see," she said, lowering her arms to her sides from their crossed position. She met Beast Boy's eyes calmly, almost in a tentative manner. "I… am grateful for your concern." Beast Boy's eyes widened in surprise, and Raven once again became impassive. "I'm not thanking you," she declared, making sure she was clear. "I'm just saying I'm appreciative of… your efforts and going this far for me. I suppose that I do owe you an apology for how I've acted as well. I was just apprehensive to what might happen, mainly with Rage there, and that you might be hurt because of her- err, me." Raven swallowed. This was as close to apologizing that she got, and she hoped the shape-shifter understood and could forgive her for how she'd treated him.

Beast Boy grinned, his canine tooth glinting. "Don't sweat it Rae! Besides," he elbowed her, smirking, "you can't thank me now. We're not out of here quite yet!"Raven stared at him, astonished that he'd brushed off her almost-apology so easily. He didn't seem to know how hard it was for her to say something like that, but then again, he didn't seem to be angry with her. Nearly the opposite, actually. Beast Boy flashed her a mischievous smile. "And since when do you worry about me?"

'_Since I could be the one to hurt you_,' Raven thought to herself, but lifted an eyebrow and said instead, "Since I might have to drag your body out of the mirror and go through all the trouble of burying you and setting up a funeral. I'm sure our teammates would like an explanation if something like that happened too."

Beast Boy clutched his hands over his heart, grinning. "Aw, you'd set up a funeral for me? I didn't know you cared that much, Rae."

Starting to walk past him, Raven rolled her eyes. "Surprise, surprise." With a smirk, Beast Boy fell into step beside her, skimming the surroundings with his eyes as they moved. He couldn't help but wonder what emotion's landscape they were in now. The shape-shifter wasn't stupid or blind, and despite his lack of ability to pay attention at times, he _had _noticed that each of the emotions had their own terrains. Every time a new emotion appeared, Beast Boy had been in a different landscape, no matter how big or small it was. Knowledge's was fairly small, but the library she had was larger than it looked. Timid resided in the forest, as well as the maze the shape-shifter had come across with Cyborg the first time he'd entered Raven's mirror. Rage stayed in a rocky mountain environment, and though Beast Boy hadn't seen Affection's location, he suspected that it was similar to Happy's, the flowery field that smelled like sweet fruit and air fresheners. All the landscapes seemed to reflect the individual emotion's personality, and Beast Boy was curious to who lived in the swamp they were in. He wanted to ask, but question time with Raven seemed to be over, concluded by her almost-apology.

A shiver ran down his back, caused by the chilled water that was still soaked into his shirt. Raven glanced at him as he tried and failed to hide the fact that he was cold. "Didn't you wring the water out already?" she asked him, her eyes seeming to glow indigo from beneath the shadows of her hood.

Beast Boy shrugged, forcing himself to suppress another shiver that ticked his spine. "Yeah, I'm just not very good at it."

Raven stopped, surprising Beast Boy. "You're going to have to be. We don't want any arrangements for an actual funeral, do we?" she added, causing Beast Boy to smile.

"Well, no," he smirked. "But since you're so good at it, you wanna show me how you got so nice and dry?" He pressed his hands together and bowed over. "Show me the art of wringing water out of clothes, master."

"Uh, huh. How can I refuse, seeing that you asked me like that?" Raven wondered out loud, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Still though, she obliged, taking her cloak in her hands and demonstrating how she did it. Beast Boy bit his lip, burrowing his eyebrows and concentrating with intense focus, but for all his unnecessarily over-exaggerated efforts, barely a drop of water was squeezed from his shirt.

"Really, it's not that hard," Raven sighed.

Beast Boy huffed. "How about you show me then, if you say it's so easy?"

"I say it's easy because it is." To prove her point, Raven took the corner of shirt that Beast Boy held in her own hands and expertly squeezed the cloth dry. A lot more water than was expected leaked out of the shirt and Raven had to wring the material again to get most of it out.

Beast Boy watched her with amazement. "The student has yet to surpass the master!"

"Whatever you say," Raven stated in a bored tone, though a hint of amusement danced in her eyes.

Beast Boy took the corner of his shirt and ran a thumb over it, finding it was only slightly damp now. "Wow, you're good at that. Do you practice wringing my neck when you've got some time on your hands or what?" he joked.

Raven didn't reply at first. Then, "…Maybe."

It took Beast Boy a minute to understand that she was teasing him, and once he did, a broad grin crossed over his face once he did. His eyes twinkled mischievously. "You wanna know another easy way to dry off?" he asked, morphing into a puppy, and a look of horror spread across Raven's face. She scrambled backwards, but Beast Boy, his tongue stuck out of the side of his mouth, was already in motion. He shook his head back and forth wildly, and a spray of water showered the plants nearby, all of the liquid coming from Beast Boy's fur. Grinning, the teenager transformed back into a human, his hair now sticking up in random directions but almost thoroughly dry.

"Ta-da! It's a lot faster that way too!" he exclaimed. Blinking, he realized that Raven wasn't where she'd been a minute ago. With a frown, Beast Boy turned around. Again, his dark friend was nowhere in sight. It didn't take long before Beast Boy realized that Raven was gone.

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Timid was definitely the easiest emotion to take care of, even if she was scared of every little thing that moved or made a sound. Unlike Brave, she didn't want to run off to battle or get into a fight every five minutes. She wasn't similar to Rude, who cared nothing what others thought of her and did whatever she wanted without asking, insulting anyone nearby as she did so. Timid also didn't send Beast Boy into a mirror without permission, like Happy, therefor labeling her as the favorite emotion the others had encountered thus far. Once the Titans arrived home and had coxed Timid out of the T-car, the terrified emotion curled up on the couch, hugging her cloak tighter around her shoulders as she took in everything. The team spoke to her gently, and they eventually discovered that the girl had been with Beast Boy when she unexpectedly was placed in charge of Raven's body. This news was reassuring to the listening teenagers as it meant that their green friend was okay and hopefully closer to finding Raven. They also wouldn't have to deal with any more irritating or exhausting emotions for much longer if Timid was right. After telling the team these things, Timid shakily rose to her feet and crept out the door, whispering that she was headed to her –or Raven's- bedroom. Even though it might be her only chance to ever explore the tower, it was apparent that the emotion was very overwhelmed and needed to be in a familiar and soothing environment. The Titans were more than happy to give her the space she needed, and to take a break for themselves.

After grabbing a slice of pizza from the refrigerator and pouring bubbly soda into a glass, Cyborg reclined on the couch to watch a little television with Robin and Starfire. The two didn't complain when Cyborg continued to flick through the channels aimlessly; they were both too content with their reprieve from "babysitting" Raven's emotions. It was more tiresome a task than they'd expected.

Time passed, and the teenagers were back to their usual fresh personalities. Cyborg had been occupied with channel flipping for quite a while, but at last stopped only to try and hide his repulsion when Starfire requested they watch The World of Fungus that was currently playing an hour special. Robin came to the robotic teenager's rescue by suggesting they watch a movie instead, and the other two were happy to agree with his proposal.

Cyborg was only just preparing the popcorn, however, when Robin voiced the thoughts that had been bothering him for the last ten minutes. "Hey team, has anyone checked up on Timid recently?"

"No, why?" Cyborg replied, taking the bag of popped kernels from the microwave as Silkie begged to no avail for the robotic teenager to throw him a bone, or, in this case, a piece of popcorn.

"Yes, why friend Robin?" Starfire asked, agreeing with Cyborg and looking at Robin over the back of the couch. "I thought we were leaving friend Timid alone to do the 'calming down'."

Robin frowned, nodding but still appearing slightly worried. "It's just that a lot of time has passed and I was wondering what would happen when another emotion took her place… I'm sure she's either switched already or is about it change emotions."

Cyborg almost dropped his popcorn, barely managing to save it much to Silkie's disappointment. The larvae closed his mouth in disappointment and wormed his way over the floor to sulk underneath the couch. There always seemed to be good food under there leftover from Cyborg and Beast Boy's video game all-nighters.

"Man!" Cyborg exclaimed, plopping his popcorn bowl on the table. "What if Rage shows up?! I didn't think about that! We'd better go check on her right now!" The other two Titans nodded, realizing the urgency that could befall the situation, and they were all prepared to run out of the commons room when the doors opened and the very emotion they were about to go see walked in. It was apparent that the girl was no longer Timid, for if it had been, the bashful emotion she would've had trembles of fear racking her whole body from entering to find everyone in the room staring at her. Instead, the silence seemed to be almost welcomed by the emotion, and she showed no discomfort at being watched by all the teenagers near the couch. In fact, she hardly seemed to know they were there.

The emotion moved down the steps at a slow pace, putting down each foot with such tenderness one might think the floor was going to give in beneath her. Upon reaching the last stair, she directed her attention to the counter and placed her palm on top, gently running her fingers over the smooth surface in a near loving manner. The other teenagers in the room suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable, so Robin cleared his throat. "Um, excuse me?" The girl didn't respond at first. "Hello…?" Robin tried again.

The emotion slid her hand off of the counter and turned her attention to the Titans, who were each caught off guard by the warm look in her lavender eyes. Slipping her hands behind her back, the emotion walked over to the Titan's leader slowly, but meaningfully. No one in the room moved save for her, and time seemed to drag out as the purple-clad girl approached, slowing just as she reached Robin. The Titan realized how close she was getting and instantly the uncomfortable feeling he'd had in his stomach increased to something of anxiety. He'd fought monsters and super villains before, but for some reason this girl who bore Raven's appearance made Robin take a step back. His hands brushed against the couch behind him. The emotion stopped inches away from the Titan's leader, and when he didn't move she reached her hand out, touching his shoulder.

She opened her mouth, her purple eyes shining with slight amusement. "If you don't mind, could you move to one side please?" Robin mutely obliged, and the emotion stooped down, reaching under the couch and withdrawing a confused Silkie. The girl turned the larvae over and tickled his stomach, causing the worm to squeal with delight. "You're feeling lonely, aren't you?" the emotion asked with a small laugh. Cyborg, catching the astonished look on Robin's face, chuckled. Robin wasn't the only one who was befuddled at what had just happened; Starfire too was struggling to understand. She wasn't angry with the emotion who had gotten so far into Robin's personal space and played with Silkie right after, for Starfire felt like she was no danger to either of the two she cared for, but she did wonder what the emotion was up to.

"Excuse me, friend?" Starfire asked, placing a hand on the emotion's shoulder. If it had been Raven, the girl would have shaken it off, but this lookalike simply turned curiously to the alien princess.

"Yes?" she asked with a soft smile.

Starfire couldn't help but return the smile brightly. "You do not seem to be friend Timid anymore. Might you wish to tell us who you are?"

"Of course," the emotion replied. "I am Affection." It was the easiest answer the Titans had received that day from any of the emotions, but her words still brought surprised response from the teenagers in the room, though understanding quickly followed.

"Well that explains a lot," Robin murmured with a shake of his head, causing Cyborg, the only one who had heard, to laugh. The leader lifted his voice. "So Affection, when did you change emotions with Timid? Was it recently?"

"No, I found myself here a while ago, and I took to exploring. Don't worry," she added quickly upon sensing as well as seeing the worry in the other's expressions. "I didn't break, damage, or move anything. I only wanted to see what it was like here in the real world, and then I decided to come meet you all in person. After seeing Beast Boy, I wondered if each of you were just as wonderful."

"You saw BB?" Cyborg interrupted. Affection lifted a hand to her mouth, smiling, and nodded. "How was he doin'?"

Affection dipped her head, the hood concealing her face further, though Robin caught a small scarlet coloring on her cheeks. The detective's mind instantly began analyzing her body language. "He's doing well," the emotion replied softly. "Since he evaded Rage, he should be fine."

Cyborg's eyes grew wide. "Whoa, man! He met Rage and _survived_?! What was he even doing near her anyway?!"

Affection didn't even attempt to hide her smile as she lowered herself down onto the couch, patting Silkie's stomach. "Saving Raven." This of course brought on a barrage of questions for the girl, and Affection was more than overjoyed to tell the team of the events that had transpired inside of Raven's mirror, though leaving out a few things as she did, like her talk with Raven and the kiss Beast Boy had received on his cheek. As she spoke, Cyborg and Starfire hung onto her every word with much interest, and while Robin listened intently as well, he was also taking note of the emotion's mannerisms. He didn't know if his observations were valid or not, as he was dealing with the emotion _of_ _love_, but if the leader was reading her correctly -which Robin knew he was for he'd been trained how to read people by only the best- Affection held feelings for Beast Boy.

Whether or not it counted, still, Robin saw that Affection only gave the small hints when talking about the green shape-shifter of the group. The tucking of the hair behind her ear, the crossing of her legs, the lighting up of her eyes, and the soft way she spoke about him, all indicated something of affection, and she didn't show any such signs that might show she was focused on someone in the room. Yet, this was a difficult situation to judge, and so instead Robin placed his suspicions into the back of his mind and focused on Affection's words.

Affection finished relating her tale to the Titans. "After Raven and Beast Boy escaped, Rage was naturally furious. She seemed like she was about to attack me out of fury when I suddenly found myself here."

Cyborg tapped his chin. "Well, from what you've said, it sounds at least like BB and Raven are safe."

"They are also closer to leaving the mirror, yes?" Starfire asked to make sure she understood.

"Right." Robin nodded. "Though it sounds like Raven's been drained of some of her power, so we can't count on them coming out right away. But still, thank you, Affection, for bringing such important news."

"Yes!" Starfire agreed enthusiastically. "I have much of the joy knowing that our friends are safe!"

"It's my pleasure," Affection smiled, rubbing Silkie's tummy, as the larvae was lying stomach-up on her lap. "And it has also been a pleasure meeting you all. I wish I could come out of Raven's mind more than just once for such a wonderful opportunity." The other teenagers smiled at her. Affection was now at the top of their favorite emotions list, as she was the most helpful and hadn't done anything to make the others irritated. A little uncomfortable at first, maybe, but in the end she'd made up for it by bringing such great news. The Titan's thoughts were interrupted by the stiffening of Affection, and then her shoulders and arms went limp, one hand still on Silkie's belly. The larvae gave a confused squeak at the sudden stopping of being petted.

"Friend Affection has… 'used up her time'?" Starfire inquired sadly.

"Seems like it," Cyborg said, rubbing his head. The Titans all exhaled, waiting for the next emotion to take over Raven's shell of a body, but they had only waited a minute or so when Raven's head suddenly jerked up, her hood flying back and eyes wide open. Blinking several times, the girl whipped her head around the room, her gaze sliding over the teenagers nearby like they weren't there, and then froze again. Her mouth opened.

"Yo, idiot, get out!" she cried. The Titans exchanged confused glances. Raven spoke again, and this time her words were in a higher tone, similar to Happy's. "No way, Hosay! You've already had a turn, and I want to learn about the tower more than you!" "So what, nerd? You don't deserve it!" "Who's to say that?!"

Cyborg blinked. "What are we dealing with here, multiple-personality-disorder Raven?"

"I think we've been kind of dealing with that all day, Cyborg," Robin mused. He stepped forward. "Uh, excuse me? I don't want to interrupt your… banter with yourself… but-."

Raven paused, turning her head abruptly to face the Titan's leader. "What of it, Bird Brain?!" Her voice changed to a higher pitch again. "Um, sorry, but I'm a bit busy right now. If you don't mind coming back in like maybe five minutes…"

Robin and Starfire looked at each other while Cyborg attempted to sort out the situation that was quickly becoming a mess. "We'll leave you be, but first we'd like to know who you are. You know, just because…"

Raven's face turned to a contorted look. One side seemed to be smirking crudely and the other had bright, inquisitive eyes. In a higher pitch, the words, "I'm Curious!" were spoken, and a second later, "Shut it, Tin Man!" came out. "We don't need an introduction as we've already met, idiot!"

"Oh… no," Cyborg whined. It seemed that two emotions were in control of Raven's body, and neither seemed to be in a rush to get out.


	7. Envious

**I apologize for the lack of updates and the smaller-than-usual chapter. School's been hecktic.**

**I'm so glad for all of your reviews and follows! Thanks guys, and keep them coming!**

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"Raven?!" Beast Boy called, peering underneath a bush as if she might be there. "Come on, Rae, this isn't funny! Where'd you go? You can't do this to me!" It occurred to him that Raven was unlikely to be under a bush, and he quickly straightened. Still seeing no sign of his cloaked friend, Beast Boy wrung his hands together worriedly. "Some help I am!" he scolded himself. "Raven was right next to me, and somehow I lost her! And she doesn't have her powers! What if she was captured or something? What if she's hurt? What if Rage grabbed her?!" Beast Boy's stomach did flips at this last thought, and, fueled by anxiety, he quickly continued in his search for Raven, turning into a bloodhound and sniffing at the ground to catch her scent.

Several feet away, Raven struggled against an unknown captor who quietly dragged her further into the dense swamp. The abductor's hand was covering her mouth, pressed hard -almost painfully- against her lips, but that didn't stop Raven from resisting. She tried to kick, scratch, and roll away, but the mystery person had a tight grip. Raven had never felt so helpless without her powers, and while she _could_ use magic if she deemed the situation necessary, the action would leave her drained. If her spell didn't work, Raven would be all but unconscious. It was better to save her energy for a possible escape at a better opportunity. How Beast Boy wasn't hearing her thrashing against the vegetation, Raven had no idea, but she could see glimpses of him through the dense trees, his green eyes bright with confusion and worry. At last Raven managed to hook her legs around a trunk, and no matter how hard the unknown abductor tried to pull her off, Raven didn't budge.

"Are you kidding me?" the captor grumbled in a voice identical to Raven's. "Give me a break. You've hung out with him for _way _too long; it's someone else's turn." The hand over Raven's mouth shifted a little, and Raven jerked her head to the side, clamping her teeth on the section between the index finger and the thumb. With a whine of surprise, the hand pulled away, and Raven opened her mouth.

"Beast B-!" Before she could finish her cry, the captor muffled her words by pressing her palm over Raven's mouth once more. In the distance, Raven spotted Beast Boy pause for a moment, but then he continued to move further away from her. With an aggravated sigh for the green teenager, Raven turned her attention to the person crouched near her with their hand over her mouth. As suspected, it was an emotion who was stooped beside her, this one dressed in a lime green cloak.

Her lookalike smirked as Beast Boy moved in the wrong direction. "Wow," she observed, "he can be really stupid sometimes. It almost makes me wonder why we like him so much." Raven's eyes widened, and then she gave an angry growl, muffling angrily against the emotion's hand. Her lookalike grinned. "Almost."

Raven pulled back, and this time the emotion didn't try to stop her. "We- I do not like him," Raven retorted, pushing her hair back. It had become quite disheveled in her struggle.

"Uh, huh." The girl rolled her eyes. "Well then, care to explain how come you experienced me as an emotion when you encountered Affection, hm?"

Raven knew the emotion was setting her up to ask the question, but she did it anyway. "And what emotion are you?"

"Take a guess."

"Just tell me," Raven ordered irritably. She'd had enough of the guessing game lately and was in no mood to practice tolerance for this emotion.

The two locked violet eyes with each other for a moment, neither showing the impression of giving in, when suddenly the emotion chuckled. "Alright then. It's Envy. I used to go by Jealousy, but Envy is such a better name, don'tcha think?"

If Envy had been expecting a response of any kind from Raven, she was disappointed. "So?" the dark girl growled.

Envy smirked. "You didn't like it too much when that other emotion was hanging out with Beast Boy and flirting with him so much, did you? Touching his hand, sitting so unnaturally close to him. Especially when she kissed him on the cheek. You do know that all the emotions felt that, don't you? You were the only one who didn't get to experience it. You were only one left out." Raven just stared at her with narrowed eyes, but Envy knew her words had affected her. She gave a laugh. "Look at that, you just experienced me again. Keep giving me power like that, Raven, and I might get as powerful as Rage."

"That's a different situation and you know it. That has to do with Trigon," Raven snapped. She shook her head. "Besides, you're being foolish; I can't be envious of myself. Why would I be jealous in the first place?" Envy only laughed, causing Raven to get even more knew that she shouldn't be here sitting and conversing with one of her emotions, but her pride told her that she couldn't just let a comment like Envy's slide without a retort in response. What Raven tended to forget was that she was talking to herself, and whatever she said, her emotions would be able to predict it.

"You cannot be-."

"Serious. Yeah, I am." Envy observed Raven with a smug look, and then her eyes brightened. "You know, you're really weak right now," she suddenly stated. Raven waited for her to continue, not sure what to say in response to that. "And I'm not. That gives me a bit of an idea." Envy gave Raven a mischievous smirk, grabbing the dark girl's arm and hauling her to her feet. In one quick motion, the girl pulled her cloak off and had it tied around Raven and a tree trunk before the sorceress knew what was happening.

"What are you doing?" Raven sighed.

"Well," Envy began, tightening the knot and stepping back to inspect her work. "You have spent almost the whole day with Beast Boy, in the very least the entire time he's been in here, and I say it's about time that I have a little fun with him. But I know that won't happen if you're still there because Beast Boy will be all worried about getting you out of the mirror. So I'm switching places with you." Reaching over, Envy removed Raven's cloak from her shoulders. The jealous emotion glanced at her original, lifting an eyebrow. "You know, I would have thought you would have been calling for Beast Boy to come and get you by now."

Raven glared at her. "I'm not because I know this won't work. He'll know you're not me."

"That's the thing, Raven." Envy smirked. "I am you." Throwing Raven's cape around her arms, the emotion walking off into the trees, headed in the direction she'd last seen Beast Boy.

Beast Boy had no idea if he was getting closer to Raven or not. The heavy, wet atmosphere was messing with his sense of smell, and he was still getting used to the sounds that came from the swamp. The teenager thought he caught a whiff of her scent, but eventually it had struck him that he might be following the trail of whatever emotion lived in the swamp. If Raven and the emotion smelled the same, Beast Boy might be moving _further _from Raven. So the boy backtracked, trying to find the same place he'd been when Raven had disappeared in hope that she had miraculously come back from whatever place she'd gone off to.

Much to his relief, Raven was standing there waiting for him. He expected her to give him her famous glare, but instead the dark girl brushed her hair back. "There you are. Where did you go?"

"Me?" Beast Boy asked, confused. "I was looking for you! You disappeared! …Didn't you?" Raven seemed to be considering his inquiry, but before she could respond, Beast Boy waved the question off. "Never mind. I'm just glad you're okay. I thought Rage had shown up and kidnapped you or something!"

Raven shrugged. "Well, obviously not." She paused. "Why? Do you think about her a lot?"

"What?" Beast Boy blinked. "What… Rage?"

"Yes, Rage."

"I-I guess… In a way… Like in the way that I'm scared she's gonna show up and kill us all or something…"

"What about Affection? Do you think about her?"

"W-why would I? I only met her for the first time today." Beast Boy furrowed his brow at Raven, seeing her furrowed expression. "Why? Are you… jealous?" Envy barely managed to stop herself from visibly reacting. How had he figured it out so fast? She'd underestimated his ability to read her emotions. Either that, or she'd been too inquisitive with her questions.

Thinking quickly, the emotion replied with an echo of the words Raven had said a few minutes ago. "You're being foolish. How can I be jealous of myself?"

"Hm," Beast Boy pondered. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I am. I'm Raven."

Beast Boy smirked. "Well, I knew that. Who else would you be?" Satisfied that her cover-up had been successfully executed, "Raven" began to walk off at an angle that would leave them away from Raven, whose pride didn't let her call out for help. The foolish girl would see that Beast Boy hadn't seen the difference between her and her double, and by then the duo would be long gone. Although Beast Boy was closer than Envy had expected to locating Raven when he'd "found" her, and the emotion was glad that she'd left when she did, for Beast Boy could have found the real Raven had Envy waited another minute or so. The emotion knew she needed to steer him in the opposite direction if this were to work successfully. Envy glanced over at Beast Boy, who was walking beside her at the same pace, and caught him staring at her.

"What?" she questioned abruptly.

Instead of looking away and stammering his answer like he usually did, Beast Boy tilted his head. "Earlier when you were talking about your emotions, it got me thinking." He smiled. "I know, crazy that I can think without my head exploding or something, right?" Envy just blinked at him, and he cleared his throat. "Yeah, well… Anyway. I realized that there _is_ a girl who's been on my mind." This of course caught Envy's attention, and she fought to keep the curiosity from showing on her face.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, but I figure you don't really want to know." Beast Boy gazed off into the trees as if he were thinking about the girl he mentioned. Envy forced herself to sound disinterested, though she was really itching to know. She could feel her core emotion stirring within.

"Not really," she lied. "But you'll end up telling me either way, so why don't you just get it over with?" Envy swore she saw Beast Boy smile a moment before he faced her, stopping as he did so.

"Really? You'd want to know?"

Envy frowned at him as she'd known Raven to do so many times in the past. "Didn't you hear what I said? I only want to get it over with so I won't have to listen to you babble about this later on." Beast Boy seemed to buy it, because he smiled sheepishly.

"Ah. Well, okay." He ran his fingers through his hair almost in a nervous manner. "You said something about Affection right?"

Envy immediately snapped back a spiteful response before she could stop herself. "That mushy, lovey-dovey emotion?!" Beast Boy's eyes widened at her outburst, and Envy mentally swore. She pulled up Raven's hood to shadow her face, mumbling, "What a surprise," in a weak attempt to cover up. To her astonishment, Beast Boy said nothing addressing her eruption.

His hand dropped from his hair to his neck, where he started to massage the shoulder absentmindedly. "But you know, that got me thinking about… well… you and your emotions." It was Envy's turn to be surprised, and it showed on her face. Beast Boy shifted closer to the emotion, taking a deep breath. "Y-You're always on my mind."

"W-what?"

Beast Boy moved closer, and Envy found her feet were frozen to the ground. "Yeah. I think about you every day."

"Do you… like me?"

Beast Boy's eyes danced. "Maaaybe."

Envy swallowed, looking into his dancing green eyes. "But I thought you liked Affection…?" she whispered, not caring that her voice was no longer monotone like Raven's.

Beast Boy shook his head. He was now inches from Envy, so close that she could feel the heat radiating from his body. The emotion's heartbeat was rapid and powerful in her chest. "No, but I do have something to confess."

"What?" Envy managed to squeak out, realizing too late that Raven never squeaked, though Beast Boy said nothing about it yet again.

Beast Boy leaned forward ever so slightly. "I really have a thing for your emotions."

Envy's heart leapt so far it jumped into her throat. Her breath quickened. "It's a good thing that I'm one, then," she whispered.

Beast Boy nodded. "Good thing then," he said, grabbing both of her hands. Slowly and deliberately, he wrapped a hand around Envy's wrists so he had one hand free while both of hers were captive. A wide grin expanded across his face, the canine tooth that protruded from his lip glinting. "So where's Raven at?" he asked in a normal tone.

Envy froze. "What did you just-?"

Beast Boy's smirk grew even broader. "I'm not that stupid I don't know the difference between one of Raven's emotions and Raven. You're Jealousy or something like that, right?"

Envy turned her head to the side. "Envy," she grumbled.

"Right." Beast Boy tilted his head. "Got any idea where Raven's at, Envy?" Knowing that she was caught, Envy grumbled something beneath her breath and pointed off to the side toward the trees. Smiling, Beast Boy released Envy and began walking in the direction she'd indicated. "Thanks Envy! It was… um, nice… meeting you!"

"Hang on," Envy stated, causing Beast Boy to pause. "Raven might want her cloak back." She unhooked it from her shoulders and tossed it to him, adding, "And if you ever want to act on those feelings you mentioned before… you've only got to remember that I'm here." Beast Boy gave her a sheepish grin and small, nervous laugh before disappearing into the swamp. Envy sighed, leaning back against a tree trunk. "Just like I have been for all of my life," she complained to the air.

"Raven? Raven, where are you?!" Beast Boy called, his hands cupped around his mouth. He was feeling very deja-vu-ish at the moment, especially since he was once more searching for Raven without a response from his friend. The shape-shifter was trying to put all of his focus into finding the dark girl, but his thoughts were being quite distracting. He'd honestly been surprised that his plan to trick Envy into revealing she was not Raven had worked. Ever since the emotion had appeared, Beast Boy was certain that she wasn't Raven. Other than mentioning the other emotions almost immediately, she acted differently that Raven did; Envy was more open, more envious, and wasn't as easily irritated, and, however small of a change it had been, Beast Boy noticed. So he'd come up with a quick plan to throw Envy off. She'd reacted a lot differently than he thought she would, but the green boy's initial goal had still been accomplished in the end. Beast Boy was smiling to himself at how successful he'd been in pulling off his plan, when another thought struck him, and he realized how really embarrassing the whole thing would have been if Envy had actually been Raven. Choosing not to delve further into that subject, Beast Boy shook the blush from his cheeks and turned around a corner to catch sight of the very dark girl he'd been looking for. Tied to a tree with Envy's lime cloak, Raven glared at him.

Beast Boy brightened. "Raven!"

"It's about time," she retorted shortly. Beast Boy smirked at her typical Raven response and quickly untied her from the tree. "I'm assuming you met Envy then?"

Beast Boy chuckled. "Yeah. She was trying to be you."

"And you figured out she wasn't?"

"Why else would I be here?" Beast Boy laughed as Raven brushed herself off. "I can't believe that she thought I would fall for that! Isn't she supposed to be smart or something?"

Raven paused in dusting herself off, looking at him with the hint of curiosity in her eyes. "What makes you think that?"

"Well," Beast Boy rubbed the back of his head, "she's a part of you, so… I figured she'd be as smart as you are."

Raven lifted an eyebrow but said nothing more on the subject. Adjusting her cloak around her shoulders once more, the dark girl tied her robe around her neck in its usual place. Beast Boy suddenly smiled. "So, I've rescued you twice! Does that make me your knight in shining armor or something?"

"No, and don't push it," Raven stated, making Beast Boy smirk. She observed the boy for a moment. "What did you do to Envy?" she asked all of a sudden.

"What? Why?"

Raven was silent at first. Envy, being her emotion, was directly linked to Raven, and the dark girl had experienced some strange, unfamiliar emotions coming from Envy. Raven wasn't sure what to make of it. "I'm just wondering."

"Nothing… really." Beast Boy cleared his throat. "I only figured out she wasn't you."

"Right." Raven didn't really believe him, but because he had helped her, she didn't question him any further. The strange emotions that she and Envy had been subjected to earlier still stirred within her, and such strong a sensation was difficult to ignore. A warm fluttering filled her stomach, and she felt flushed, almost antsy. Raven didn't _get_ antsy. Whatever had happened, it was enough to affect the empath in a way she hadn't experienced in the past. What she was feeling now, and before with Envy's unusual emotions, Raven realized that Beast Boy was playing with her emotions, purposeful or not, in more ways than one.


	8. Do You Smell Fish?

**110 follows?! You guys are amazing! I looked online and saw that I'd reached over 100 follows and told myself, "Alright, these people deserve another, longer chapter!"And here it is! This chapter was pretty fun to write, so I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

"Please tell me that that's not Rude in there," Cyborg begged, turning to Robin and grabbing him by the shirt. When his leader said nothing, giving his friend a helpless look, the robotic teenager provided yet another plead, this time with more urgency. "Man, please tell me that's not Rude in there! I can't go through her twice! She's already beaten all of my games and we have no soda left! All that's left for her to do is make our lives miserable!"

A sneering laugh came from Raven's body. "You guessed it, tin can!" Raven cleared her throat, taking on a higher pitched tone. "Excuse me, but I'm still here, and you have already had a turn in Raven's body, Rude. It's my turn!"

Rude lifted an eyebrow. "Well, obviously I'm gonna butt you out, geek! It's just bein' who I am!"

"Irritating? Impolite? Discourteous? Irksome? Infuriating? Worse than Rage right now?" the higher voice replied without hesitating a beat.

"A pain in the neck?" Cyborg muttered beneath his breath.

"Exactly." The higher voice acknowledged Cyborg with a dip of her head. Cyborg smirked. He was liking this emotion more and more. The girl continued. "Don't make me start on you about disrespect, Rude. Such a thing is very cruel to others, especially those who use the golden rule; treat others as you want to be treated. In fact, if you believe in this, then your entire existence should be in question. If you ask-."

This speech seemed to have the most effect on the vulgar emotion out of everything that had been already tried, and with an exasperated sigh, Rude shook her head. "Gah. I'm outta here, freaks." With that final insult, Raven's body dropped into a crouching position. The Titans moved to help her, but they hadn't needed to, for a moment later she was back on her feet, wiping her brow. The girl's expression took on one of perky inquisitiveness.

"Phew, I'm glad that's over. I suppose I should have figured that Rude would try something like that. She's always had it out for me for some reason."

Robin smiled, secretly just as relieved as Cyborg that Rude was not coming back for a second visit. Cyborg, in fact, was practically dancing out of pure joy, bouncing happily from one foot to another behind his shorter, spikey-haired friend. The Titan's leader addressed the new emotion in front of them. "So, you said earlier that your name was… Curious?"

Curious gave the three standing before her a bright smile, one seen on Raven's face rarely. The team had probably seen more smiles on the empath's face today than they had over a normal month. "Yep! I'm very curious!" she laughed. "I tend to go by Curious, but you can also call me inquisitive, questioning, inquiring, or whatever you desire!"

"So," Cyborg began, "you're like Raven's smart side?"

"Oh no, that's Knowledge!" Curious replied jauntily. Her cheerful attitude continued as she explained. "I'm more so the nosy side of Raven! The one that is secretly interested in gossip, wonder's what everyone thinks about, and eavesdrops on you guys when Raven thinks you're talking about her!" Everyone's eyes grew wide, and Curious looked a little guilty. "Oops. Well, you should also know that that hasn't happened in months, so don't worry. I'm not present much anymore. Mostly I've shown up when you're all trying to track down a villain." She put a finger to her chin, backtracking. "Sorry, I got off topic. Now about Knowledge." The smile reappeared on her face. "Right! Knowledge and I work together a lot. She does the thinking while I ask questions that help her develop along with her problem! I like to think that I'm Knowledge's partner in crime! Well, not crime, but you know. Actually, I do wonder where the phrase 'partner in crime' originated from. My guess would be criminals and such, but what else could there be? Maybe it was _always_ a metaphor? I wonder where the word metaphor came from. Usually Latin roots have to do with it, but I don't know Latin very well. Knowledge does though. I should ask her. I wonder when she had time to learn it….?"

The other Titans all gave a large, weary sigh, and then regrouped into a small circle away from Curious who was still holding the conversation with herself. Even Starfire, one who enjoyed in telling her friends the minute-by-minute details of her hours in the mall of shopping, could see how exhausting and strenuous Curious was going to be. "Please friends," the alien princess spoke, "it cannot be much longer until friends Beast Boy and Raven return, can it?"

"We can only pray," Robin replied. Biting her lip, Starfire floated over to Curious, her hands held together in front of her.

"Excuse me, friend Curious?" Starfire asked, interrupting the emotion's discussion with herself about what must be involved in the creation of the abnormal blue mold that showed up in the teenagers' refrigerator every once in a while. How she'd gotten to that subject from talking about Latin, Starfire would never know. The curious girl stopped, looking at Starfire.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if you would perhaps mind tasting my dish?" Starfire asked, pulling her bowl from that morning out of the fridge. "It would seem that due to the circumstances that have transpired throughout the day, many have been prevented from the consumption of my planet's delicacies. It would cause me much joy to see someone appreciate my meal."

Curious seemed to be interested in the "food," and maybe even about to try it, when she reminded herself that this was Starfire's cooking, and, after all, _curiosity killed the cat_. Well, in this case, _Curiosity_ might be killed in the cat's place by _alien food _instead. So as an alternative, she did the next thing that came to her, which was talk. "Interesting," she started, placing a finger to her chin and tilting her head. "I would not expect such a meal to be the texture or color that this one is. Many are smooth or doughy, while this seems to have similar make up to that of Jell-O." The emotion poked the food tentatively, her eyes flashing brightly when it rippled like water. "Interesting. I would assume that instead of zorka berries, you used blueberries? That would explain the texture of the dish," Curious explained to a completely confused and bemused Starfire. As the emotion delved into the origin of zorka berries and why they couldn't be substituted by earthly fruit, Robin and Cyborg exchanged glances.

"Now we know why Rude was so eager to leave once Curious started one of her spiels," Robin stated sadly.

"Well," Cyborg attempted, trying to find a good outlook on the situation. "It can't be long until Raven and Beast Boy get back. And Curious _can't_ be worse than Rude." He peered over his shoulder at the emotion who was continuing to talk, this time about the many different varieties of alien delicacies. "…Right?"

* * *

Back in the dark empath's mirror, Robin and Cyborg would be dismayed to learn that Raven and Beast Boy felt like they were nowhere near close to leaving Raven's mind. In fact, they were lost.

"How can you get lost?!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "It's your _mind _for crying out loud! Shouldn't you know it like the back of your hand?"

Raven glared at him, rubbing her temples to lessen her headache with little result. "Ever heard of lost in thought? Or your train of thought got off track?"

"Yeah, but-but," Beast Boy stammered. "That's totally different! And it's not like you have an actual train in here!" He paused hopefully. "Do you? 'Cause if you do, why haven't we been using it this whole time? We would get to the portal a lot faster that way."

"I don't have a train in my mind, Beast Boy," Raven snapped. "It's called a _metaphor_." The two were at last out of the swamp, and now had stumbled upon a large, remote stretch of desert. In the distance, another section of mountains were visible, but they were so far away that they looked like small hills instead. Off to their left, an expanse of blue could be seen.

Beast Boy's eyes widened in excitement as he took notice of it. "Dude, a beach! Raven, I thought you hated the beach!"

"I do," was Raven impassive reply. "But there are a lot of things in my mind that I'm not too fond of being here." She lifted an eyebrow at Beast Boy, who only grinned.

"Well, would you rather me not be here at all? You'd still be trapped if it weren't for me." The shape-shifter chuckled. "Come on, Rae; you _know_ you love me."

Raven grumbled beneath her breath. "That seems to be a common opinion today," she muttered, but Beast Boy didn't hear; he was already moving in the direction of the beach. Raven sighed, crossing her arms. "What do you think you're doing?"

Beast Boy glanced back at her, stopping momentarily. "Going to the beach! What else?"

Raven put her fingers to the bridge of her nose. "Did you forget that we are trying to get _out _of my head? We have no time for detours." But Beast Boy was already gone, eagerly jogging in the direction of the blue water. Raven shook her head, unwillingly forcing herself to follow him. "Why do I even bother?" she asked herself.

Raven caught up to her green teammate just a few feet from the water. He looked like he had every intention of throwing his shirt off and diving into the ocean when Raven grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. "I'd advise against that."

Beast Boy wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Why? Don't you want to see me with my shirt off or what?"

"No," Raven said promptly, grateful her hood covered the heat rising to her face at the thought of it. Beast Boy's smile never left his face. "I wouldn't do that because who knows what might be in the water? This is my _mind_, remember. Things are different. Did you forget about the statues you encountered the last time you were here?"

"Hm…" Beast Boy pondered this. "I guess you're right," he admitted at last, really in the mood to be eaten by some monstrous sea monster right then. He did that enough when fighting monsters back in Jump City. Raven nodded curtly, and the two had only started to walk back in the direction of the distant mountains when an enormous, scaly beast with the green head of a dragon silently rose up out of the water behind them. Taking note of the teenagers, the monster's forked tongue darted out, tasting the air and capturing their scents. Without a sound, it glided through the water until it was directly behind the Titans. Slow and silent like the predator it was, it coiled back.

Beast Boy sniffed the air. "Do you smell fish?" he asked Raven.

The dark empath paid him little attention as she walked. "I'm not in the mood for a 'fishy' joke, Beast Boy, or any joke for that matter."

"No, seriously!" Beast Boy sniffed again, and his ears twitched, detecting softly dripping droplets behind them hitting the surface of the water. Curiously, he cast a glance over his shoulder.

The next thing Raven knew, she had been tackled from the side and landed face-first in a sandbank. She sat up, shaking her head and feeling a good section of beach fall from her purple hair, spitting grains of sand as she did. "Beast Boy!" she spat. "What the heck do you think you're-?" She looked over at him to see that Beast Boy was on his feet, ears tuning her out. His green eyes were fixated on the enormous sea monster that towered above them. The creature was spitting out sand too, and only when Raven regarded the space nearby did she notice the chunk of beach missing from exactly where she had been standing moments before.

Her thoughts slipped from realizing she had almost died and Beast Boy had saved her yet _again, _to the sea monster overhead of her. It seemed like its attention was on Beast Boy at the moment, and as it swung its head from side to side, shaking the last of sand from its snout, it let out a blood-curdling shriek that caused both Raven and Beast Boy's hairs stand on end. Beast Boy barely had time to blink before the sea creature bore down on him with sharpened teeth. In a flash, the shape-shifter morphed into a hummingbird, flitting to the side and only just dodging the attack. Before the sea monster had time to pull back, Beast Boy transformed into a tiger, leaping on top of the behemoth's snout and slashing his claws across its nose. As the creature jerked back and Beast Boy retreated, Raven got to her feet. Beast Boy landed on the ground beside her, changing back into his human form.

"What is this thing?!" he asked, carefully watching the monster as it whipped his body from side to side as if to get rid of the pain coming from the three crimson streaks on its nose. Any fear that the green boy might have had was undetectable, for one could see nothing but determination in his stance.

"I don't know," Raven admitted.

"Do you know _anything _about your mind?" Beast Boy questioned, earning a glare from the dark empath.

"As you can see, my mind is not a very pleasant place to be, and I try to avoid going inside it as much as possible. But now that I'm trapped here-," the two jumped apart as a large tail crashed to the ground in between them, "-I'm starting to regret not having learned about this place more," Raven finished. Beast Boy received no time to reply, as the tail jerked in his direction. He ducked, but part of it clipped him on the shoulder, and the green boy only avoided more damage because he dropped to the ground and the tail passed over him. Raven ran to Beast Boy.

"Are you alright?" she asked, kneeling beside him. To her relief, he opened his eyes immediately, wincing at the pain in his shoulder.

The boy glanced at her. "Yeah, I'm good." The two lifted their heads as the sea monster locked its sights on them. Beast Boy gave a nervous whine. "Seriously Raven? Why does everything in here want to kill us?!"

"Not everything, BB!" Before either Raven or Beast Boy could wonder who had spoken, an unfamiliar blue emotion appeared in front of the two. She took her time in lifting up her hand and conjuring a black shield, giving herself scarcely any time to brace for the attack from the sea monster above. Expecting no resistance, the creature rebounded off of the magical defense, and before it was given even a moment to recover, another emotion jumped out of nowhere, this one wearing a recognizable dark green cloak. With a battle cry, the girl smashed her fist into a soft spot right between the eyes. A loud _crack _filled the air. The creature retreated, screeching, into the depths of the ocean, nursing its wounds and a grudge. Floating down from the sky, the green-cloaked girl landed beside Beast Boy with a wide grin on her face. The blue emotion faced Raven slowly as well, her expression soft yet in control. The two emotions held their hands out to the Titans on the ground.

"What's up, BB? Miss me?" the green-dressed one asked as she hauled him to his feet. Now standing beside Raven, Beast Boy took a moment to recognize the emotion.

"Brave?" he guessed.

Brave grinned, eyes sparkling. "You got it!"

Raven frowned at the emotion. "_Brave_? What are you doing here? This isn't your landscape, is it?"

"Nope!" Brave clapped her hand on the shoulder of the emotion in the blue robe positioned to her left. "This lovely beach with the horrible monster that tried to kill you guys is Calm's place of dwelling. I know that this isn't my terrain, but I figured Calm here wouldn't care if I stopped by! It's not like she's gonna yell at me anyway." She laughed, elbowing the other emotion, who in response just looked at the green-cloaked girl with unblinking indigo eyes. "Besides her, I'm one of the only few who haven't gotten to see BB recently!"

The blue emotion, Calm, dipped her head. "Nice to finally meet you," she addressed Beast Boy. "I've heard a lot."

Beast Boy's ears perked. "Really? Like what?" He smirked, unable to resist teasing. "About how good-looking I am? About how I rescued Raven a lot? About how she wanted to see me with my shirt off earlier?" Starting beside him, Raven fought to keep scarlet from coloring her cheeks, also wrestling with the idea of throwing Beast Boy back into the ocean nearby to let the sea creature deal with him at the same time. Alongside her original, Brave started laughing hysterically, but Calm didn't seem affected by Beast Boy's words at all.

"No, I haven't heard that," the blue-cloaked emotion replied, her appearance staying in the same composed expression as when the two Titans had first seen her. "Though that is interesting information." She allowed Beast Boy to see a small smile.

"If you don't mind," Raven interrupted, shifting her gaze to the ocean, "I'd like to get away from the place where we were attacked a few minutes ago. Who knows when that monster could reemerge with a vengeance?"

"Yeah," Beast Boy chimed in. "And if you could show us where we're supposed to go to find the portal too, that would be awesome. We're a bit lost," he added unnecessarily. Raven glared at him, but her emotions obliged, Brave smirking and Calm simply conjuring a black platform underneath them. With a spread of her fingers, the platform lifted into the air and picked up speed, aimed toward the mountains that Raven and Beast Boy had seen earlier.

Beast Boy sat down, dangling his feet over the edge of the platform to feel the air rush past his ankles. He considered taking his shoes off, but then decided that, being in the company of three girls, that would be a bad idea. His feet didn't exactly smell like a perfume shop, probably more similar to a skunk that'd just had a large helping of beans. Still, he felt a rush of exhilaration as the platform sped up, and a light laugh escaped him. The three girls close by sensed the burst of excitement from him, and each had the urge to smile, though Brave was the only one to give not suppress that urge.

"Dude, this is so better than riding a train!" Beast Boy laughed. Raven watched for a moment, and then, hesitating a second or so, she lowered herself to sit down next to him. Beast Boy turned to her, but she shook her head, indicating she had nothing to say. Smiling, the green teenager looked back to the mountains, and Raven's eyes fell on the crimson stain on his shoulder. He must have obtained it when he was hit by the sea monster. Unthinking, Raven lifted her hand, touching her fingertips to the wound. Beast Boy met her eyes again curiously.

"Does it hurt?" Raven asked, indicating his injury.

"What, that?" Beast Boy dropped his eyes to the scarlet blotch on his uniform. "I didn't even notice it."

"It probably needs to be healed," Raven stated, her hand still on his shoulder.

Beast Boy frowned gently. "I'm fine, Rae. Don't worry about it."

Giving in but mentally reminding herself to bring the subject up again later, Raven dropped her hand, resting it in her lap instead. "You saved me," she sighed suddenly.

Beast Boy took a moment to realize what she was talking about, but when he was caught up, he had to grin. "Again."

"Yes, again." Raven rolled her eyes. "I suppose that I should…" She shook her head, clearing her throat. "No, you deserve it." She turned back at him. "Thank you, Beast Boy."

"Whoa, an actual thank you? No, 'this is not an apology so don't think it is'? What did you do with the real Raven?" Beast Boy paused, scanning over her with careful inspection. "You're not Envy again, are you?"

Raven gave him one of her famous unamused looks. "No, Beast Boy, I'm not."

In response, Raven received one of her friend's cheeky grins. "Just checkin'." Raven's eyes slipped to the wound on his shoulder again, but Beast Boy, noticing, decided to distract her. Turning around, he directed his gaze at the two emotions standing above them, both trying to act as if they hadn't been listening to the teenagers' conversation. "Are we there yet?" he asked, straight-faced until a smirk snuck through.

Brave chuckled, but Calm just shook her head. "It will probably be at least a half hour until we reach the mountains. My territory is quite vast."

"A half hour, huh?" Beast Boy regarded the rocky hills, facing forward again. No one spoke for a while after that, each lost in their own thoughts. As they drew nearer to the mountains, Beast Boy felt his head begin to droop, and he quickly jerked it up. He couldn't fall asleep now! He and Raven still had a long ways to go! At the thought of the dark sorceress, Beast Boy glanced to her side. Raven hadn't moved from her position beside him, and though her legs weren't swinging back and forth over the edge like his, her hair was blowing out in the wind in a similar way. Even without the would-be tell-tale smile on her face, she seemed to be enjoying herself. Beast Boy blinked hard, trying to stay conscious. He was sure he'd be roused with a rude awakening from Raven if he dozed off. If _anyone_ deserved to sleep, it was probably the girl next to him. She'd been through a lot that day, and no one could blame her if the dark teenager drifted off. Yet, despite his mental protests, once again Beast Boy's eyelids threatened to close, and this time when they did, they stayed shut. Moments later he was sleeping.

Raven was mentally meditating over the new information that her emotions had told her throughout the entire day so far, much if not all of it surrounding Beast Boy. How he'd gotten into her head so much lately was a mystery to Raven; in the rhetorical sense of course. And now every one of her emotions indicated that she had feelings for him; that she was in _love _with him. It was a silly notion. Raven couldn't feel affection even if she wanted to. It would be too dangerous. Raven paused, having grasped an inkling of reason within the mystery that had befallen her. It was too dangerous to feel something for someone _outside_ of her mirror. She was trapped _inside_. Subconsciously the girl must have realized that she had no need to worry about her powers getting out of hand and wanted to take advantage of the situation while she had the opportunity; it was similar to what Affection had said about not knowing when she would get the chance again right before she kissed Beast Boy on the cheek. Such an idea also explained why her emotions were telling her the feelings she was supposedly experiencing; they were her subconscious.

Raven let out a breath of relief. There was no other explanation for what had been going through her head lately. Once she was out of her mirror, everything would go back to the way it had been before. Raven might have felt bad for Beast Boy, seeing as so many of her other selves were leading him on, but the shape-shifter appeared to have no idea that any of these things were happening. Raven glanced at the boy in mention, wondering how she would have felt if she truly were in love with him and he was so oblivious to all her feelings. It certainly could be frustrating. 'It's a good thing I'm not in love with him then,' Raven reminded herself sternly.

As she thought this, Beast Boy's head dipped forward, his eyes falling shut, and a few seconds afterwards, a soft snoring vibration came from his mouth. The three girls on the platform each looked in his direction, surprised at the sound. Brave snickered, while Calm gave no reaction and Raven simply seemed puzzled. She hadn't expected him to be so tired to fall asleep, especially considering that he was sat down on the edge of a magical platform and falling was extremely hazardous. Before anyone could say anything, however, Beast Boy's body started to follow his head, and slowly he started tipping over. Raven reached forward, grabbing his collar before he could fall off of the platform. Using her other hand, she managed to pull him back enough so he wasn't going to drop headfirst again, but as she tried to move him further toward the center of the platform, Raven found her path blocked by two emotions.

Narrowing an eyebrow dangerously, Raven stared down her doubles. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What do _you _think you're doing? There's no room over here," Brave replied, a defiant glint in her eye. Raven peered around their legs skeptically where it was evident that there was plenty of room.

"Right." Raven frowned, feeling the irritated creases form on her forehead. She expected something like this from Brave, but even Calm seemed to be in on this little game that the courageous emotion had going. The dark empath shifted her sights to Calm, giving her one of her well-recognized glares, but the blue-clad lookalike acted as if it didn't affect her, like her calm and collected expression was a shield that reflected all scowls. Needless to say, the emotion showed no reaction.

"Besides," Brave continued in a mischievous tone that set Raven on edge, "I'd pay more attention to what _you're_ doing." She gestured to Beast Boy's chest where Raven's hand was pressed up in order to keep him from falling. Raven blushed, but she had to keep her hand where it was so Beast Boy wouldn't tip forward again.

"Hilarious," Raven growled, hating that the girls were enjoying this so much and her cheeks burned red so badly. Upon seeing Brave's wide grin and Calm's small, amused smile, Raven's own expression abruptly became one similar to Calm's. Relaxing her shoulders, Raven leaned back slightly, feeling the control that had been slipping through her fingers returning. "Well, I suppose if you don't give us more room to stay on-," Raven's incoming threat was interrupted by a sleeping snort from Beast Boy, and the dark girl had to fight to keep her face serious. "-To stay on," she continued, "then I'll just have to make more and let go of him." She lifted an eyebrow.

Brave snorted, and as always Calm's face was unreadable. Raven faintly wondered if her teammates outside the mirror found it so irritating that she always appeared so impassive. If so, some changes would have to be made now that Raven realized how infuriating it could be. "You wouldn't dare," Brave challenged boldly, pointing a finger at her. "You care about him too much."

"I wouldn't say that." Under her palm, Raven felt the subject of their conversation stirring. She cast a quick look at him, lowering her head a little. "In fact…" Raven paused, hesitating for a moment with her eyes on Beast Boy, and then she let go. Beast Boy disappeared over the edge of the platform. Brave made a sound similar to a shriek, and even Calm was shocked. The two flew past Raven quickly after the falling boy, hoping to save him before he hit the ground. Raven waited until they had left her sights completely, and then she suddenly heard a small buzzing in her ear. She sighed. "Yes, it worked."

A miniature fly flew to her side, expanding and morphing back into a green boy who grinned, his canine tooth flashing. "That was awesome, Rae! I didn't know you had it in you to trick someone like that!"

Raven peered over the edge at where her emotions were still airborne, looking for Beast Boy who had, in their eyes, somehow disappeared. "Well it helps that they were irritating me. I suppose my creative abilities kick into overdrive when I have the right motivation." She hid a smile at the sight of her double's frantic expressions as they persisted searching in vain. "You also had fine timing, waking up when you did. Otherwise I'm not sure what I would have come up with." Raven turned around to see Beast Boy lying on his back, watching her with smiling green eyes. The dark sorceress regarded him inquiringly. "And what are you doing?"

Beast Boy smirked. "Hey, if I'm gonna take a nap, then I might as well have a big spot to stretch out on, right?" He crossed his arms behind his head, leaning back. After a moment's hesitation, Raven lowered herself beside him, though she stayed sitting up with her legs crossed. Beast Boy's mouth stretched up in a slight grin. "So what's this about you caring about me?"

Raven sighed. So he _had_ heard the conversation with her emotions. "I suppose if you haven't noticed by now, I might as well enlighten you to the situation straightaway. My emotions are convinced that… that I'm… I'm in…" Raven had to wait and take a quick breath in order to prepare herself for what she was going to say. It was more difficult than she expected.

"That was a dirty trick!"

Raven peered up to notice that two girls were floating above them, one with a cross expression and the other with a calm, yet slightly relieved air about her. "What's wrong with you, doing that to us?!" Brave exclaimed. "You know how freaked-out I was?!" She attempted to land on the platform, but Beast Boy angled his legs to keep her from doing so.

"Sorry," he chuckled. "There's no room." Raven glanced at him, realizing by the smirk on his face that he had heard more of their earlier conversation that she'd realized. Still, she was amused by the looks her emotions were giving them, and Beast Boy had helped her accomplish such an achievement. And she was surprised to confess that it had been… fun. Raven blinked. Fun? Had she really had fun with Beast Boy of all people? It was something Raven had never expected to admit to herself. Putting the thought in the back of her mind, the dark sorceress leaned back, relaxing and settling in until they reached the mountains in the distance.


	9. Hungry And Lazy

**Hey guys! Just to let you know that this story can see a glimpse of its end on the horizon. But don't worry; it's just a glimpse. ;)**

**Please enjoy and keep reviewing as wonderfully as you have been!**

* * *

Raven slowly faded back into consciousness from a sleep she didn't remember having fallen into. Her eyes still closed, the girl was reluctant to fully awaken and rejoin the world. She hadn't realized how exhausted she had been until waking up just now, and as her resting body groaned at the idea of stirring, she thus was less than willing to rise. Yet as Raven's awareness of her surroundings sharpened, the fog of sleep dispersed from her brain and the dark sorceress noticed that her head was rested against something soft that hadn't been there when she fell asleep. It was for this reason that Raven opened her eyes.

Beast Boy was stretched out beside her, his head tilted to the side and a soft snore escaping his lips. He was fast asleep, that much was obvious. What it was that caused Raven's horror and a bright scarlet blush to spread to her cheeks was that she was curled up next to him, pressed against his arm with one of her hands on his shoulder, dangerously close to his face. Speaking of which, their faces were far too close for Raven's comfort. She sat up quickly, scrambling away from the shape-shifter's slumbering form, and bumped against a pair of legs behind her. Raven glanced back, catching sight of her two emotions, one emotionless and the other smirking, standing above her.

Raven's first reaction was accusatory. "You did this, didn't you?" she snapped, gesturing to Beast Boy who hadn't moved from his position on the ground.

Calm shook her head as Brave smirked. "Oh, how I wish I had been clever enough to think of it," the courageous lookalike sighed brightly, "but no, alas you were the one to set yourself up beside him."

Raven narrowed her eyes. "Why do I get the feeling that you're lying to me?"

"Why Raven?" Calm spoke softly. "Is it such a bad thing?" She knelt down on one knee, creating clear eye contact with her original. "You're upset because you enjoyed being so close to him and don't want to admit it."

Raven brushed the girl away, standing on her own. "Why do you insist on playing this game? I know why I'm supposedly 'feeling something' for Beast Boy, so you can stop." Both of her emotions appeared surprised, if not confused. Raven continued. "This is all in my head. In reality, once we are out of my mirror, he will mean nothing to me again." Raven crossed her arms, though she was wondering silently why she had added the word _again_. She didn't feel anything for him now, so why would she bother to insert something like that?

Calm turned her head slightly to set her sights on Beast Boy. "If he means nothing, then why are you still keeping your voice down?"

"Because…," Raven responded slowly, "he's confused enough as is. I don't want Beast Boy waking up and asking questions. Which reminds me, I have a few of my own." Raven walked to the edge of the platform, scanning their surroundings. The group was about a minute or so away from reaching the mountains. "What was it that caused me to be trapped in here in my mirror in the first place?"

Her emotions exchanged glances, and Calm dipped her head, stepping up to Raven's side. "The last thing you remember is when you were meditating, correct?" Raven gave her a curt nod. "Happy had been pestering you, so your focus was on her. While you were distracted, Rage appeared. She must have had a spell prepared; how she obtained it, I am unsure." Calm paused, thinking. "I suppose she must have created it from scratch, or otherwise taken bits and pieces from the books you've read and figured out the rest. Either way, the spell prevented you from leaving by choice of will unlike you usually are able. The only way that you can take back control is to build up your strength again and wait until there is an elapse of concentration from whatever emotion is in command of your body. You will be able to sense it when such a thing happens, though it's unlikely you will be in charge again unless someone or something in the outside world causes the break or pause to occur." Calm quickly added, "Please do not blame Happy, for she had not planned for Rage to take any kind of action. The crimson emotion obviously had this well planned out."

Raven's hands clenched into fists momentarily, and then, with a sigh, she loosened her fingers. "She always does." The dark girl faced her emotions. "Another question; what will we find in the mountains once we get there?"

Brave responded to this one. "That's where the portal out of your head should be. And… other stuff."

Raven frowned. "What 'other stuff'?"

Brave seemed to dodge around the question. "It shouldn't really be a problem. There's hardly ever anything dangerous there." She cleared her throat. "Any other questions?"

"One more." Raven wanted to know what was in the mountains, but since neither emotion looked like they wanted to say anything, she decided to pry it out of them later. The dark sorceress hesitated, trying to think of the right way to ask what she was about to say. Her eyes flitted to Beast Boy's sleeping form. "Do you think… that you could maybe…?" Both of the girls nearby lifted an eyebrow simultaneously, hiding smiles from showing on their faces. They knew what she was going to say, that much was obvious, but it was just as apparent that they wanted her to finish her sentence. Raven rubbed her arm, and then shook her head at herself. It was a simple request; it wasn't difficult. "Would either of you mind healing Beast Boy's shoulder? I'm trying to save up my energy for when we come to the portal, and even though he says it doesn't hurt, I have a feeling it does."

Brave grinned at her original's use of bravery to ask the question while Calm obliged to Raven's request, kneeling beside the sleeping boy. She placed her cool fingers on the crimson stain that tainted Beast Boy's shirt red, and after a moment of concentration, a white aura tinted with blue enveloped her hand. The healing took but a moment, but seconds after Calm had finished, Beast Boy's eyes flickered open, falling on the girl in blue crouched beside him.

"Raven?" he questioned, a confused expression on his face probably caused from waking up to find Raven so near him. If only he knew how close the real Raven had been when they were both asleep. The shape-shifter blinked, and his green eyes widened in recognition. "Oh, Calm! Sorry; you guys all just look so alike!"

"Well, duh we do," Brave chuckled. Calm offered Beast Boy a hand and hauled him to his feet. Subconsciously, the boy rubbed his shoulder. Had he thought about it, he would have realized that it no longer stung painfully as it had when he'd fallen asleep, but the shape-shifter had something else on his mind.

"So, we make it to the mountains or what?"

Raven looked at their destination. "You tell me." Even as she spoke, the dark platform they rode on was lowered to the ground, the peaks of the large hills now behind them. The four stood at the rocky base of the mountains. From where they were gathered, they could see that their location was near the center of a circular formation of mountains, the only opening being a section which abruptly dropped off and disappeared into empty space. The black platform dispersed beneath the teenagers' feet as they took in their surroundings. Raven frowned slightly, placing a hand to her head.

Beast Boy looked at her with concern. "You okay, Rae?"

Brow furrowed, Raven nodded. Also uncomfortable, Brave glanced around the landscape as Calm spoke. "You can sense it too, Brave?"

"Sense what?" Beast Boy inquired, feeling very left out as he was the only non-empath in the group.

"The portal is nearby." Calm stepped forward, the single girl seemingly unaffected though she too was feeling the strength of the force radiating from the magical exit.

Beast Boy brightened, his ears perking up. "Really? That means we can get out of here soon, right?"

"Hopefully."

The group started to make their way toward the source of power, tracking the exit's location by the increase or decrease of strength depending on where they moved. Eventually Calm stated that she believed to have pinpointed the exact place that the portal was. Sure enough, after a few minutes, a swirl of black and red colors came into view in the distance. It looked the same as the last time that Beast Boy had seen it; a small, spiked metal frame outlined the sides of the portal, the magical exit was inserted in the side of the mountain, and two menacing statues were positioned on both sides of it.

As the four had been progressing, Beast Boy couldn't help but notice that Raven had gotten weaker and weaker, and thus he had kept a close eye on her, making a point to hover nearby the girl in just case something happened. It turned out that his decision had been a good one, for the moment that the portal was visible, a wave of power rushed over Raven and her legs gave out. Before she dropped to the ground, however, Beast Boy stooped down, catching her before she hit the dry earth. Raven was too tired to protest, though she did attempt to throw a glare in his direction.

Seeing the glimpse of the old, stubborn Raven he knew so well in such an expression, Beast Boy brightened. "You're welcome," he grinned.

Raven grumbled something beneath her breath.

"I'll take that as a thank you," Beast Boy continued without missing a beat. Raven rolled her eyes and motioned for the shape-shifter to release her, but when he did, Raven realized she wasn't as strong as she'd thought. Once again, she sank to the ground. Beast Boy knelt beside her, extending his hand.

Raven shifted her eyes to the side. Unlike the last time she'd fallen, she didn't hesitate for long before accepting his offer and placing her hand in his. "Shut up," she mumbled at the two emotions watching nearby with entertained expressions. Beast Boy slung her arm over his shoulder, and with his help, Raven was able to make her way in the direction of the portal. The group had only a few more feet left when two large statues guarding the exit came to life. Four pairs of eyes snapped open, landing on the green boy and the girl he was supporting. The stone statues whipped away so they were facing opposite of one another. Scraping over the dry earth, they flew backwards and slammed into each other with a loud _crack_. An enormous set of swords materialized in each of the palms, and the combined statues turned their sights on the Titans. Beast Boy and Raven stepped back.

"Uh, I thought these things were only in the mazes," Beast Boy said nervously.

Raven looked at him, a hint of worry visible in the place of her previous impassive expression. "They usually are."

* * *

"- and so when I speak of the capital of California, you should know that I speak of the original name, San Jose, and not Sacramento, the current capital."

"We don't care!" Cyborg exclaimed, his hands on the top of his head. "We never _asked _about the capital of California, new or old! I just asked if you were hungry!" The three original Titans gathered in the tower, feeling much more trapped than assembled, were sprawled out throughout the room. They were all, in fact, acting on a motion used by the dark sorceress of the tower many-a-time. Index fingers placed accordingly, the teenagers massaged their temples with such a vigor someone might think they were trying to unscrew the top of their head from their skulls. Needless to say, Curious was driving them each entirely insane.

Curious regarded the mechanical Titan with a lifted eyebrow. "And by such a question, I assumed that you meant if I might be hungry for Starfire's… 'meal'. And I happen to not be hungry at this moment in time."

"Why didn't you just _say _that instead of start talking about something completely unrelated?!" the poor robotic teenager whined. Curious, smiling, simply shrugged. With a groan, Cyborg buried his face in the arm of the couch.

As Curious went off on another spiel about a subject that's origin made sense only to her, Starfire rolled onto her side. She had been stretched over the dining table, facing the ceiling with her scarlet hair spiraling down and barely tickling the carpet, but as she turned over, her attention was direction to Robin. The leader of the team was drumming his fingers on his knee in the seat beside the table. When the alien princess faced him, Robin glanced up.

"Robin?" Starfire asked.

"Yeah Star?"

"I am worried about friends Raven and Beast Boy."

Robin sat up, surprised. "This kind of came out of nowhere. Why now?"

Starfire fidgeted, batting a strand of her hair with her finger. "I am uncertain as to why I feel the worry for our friends now and not as strongly before." She frowned, thinking. "I supposed that I am feeling the 'impatient', yes?"

"That could easily be it," Robin replied, glancing quickly at Curious. "Our current company hasn't been very entertaining."

"Please," Starfire said, "I feel like we are doing the babysitting of Raven's body?" Robin nodded and Starfire took that information in as she continued. "I fear I assumed it would be more enjoyable," the girl admitted.

The Titan's leader smirked. "Well, normally the one being babysat wouldn't have great, demonic power that could kill everyone in the room. Without being watched over, who knows what Raven's emotions might get into their head to do? If Affection was right, at least Beast Boy has found Raven by now, and I can assume that they're almost out of her mirror."

Nodding, Starfire smiled. She crossed her arms, settling her head into the crook of her elbow. At the mention of Affection, Starfire recalled something that she had noticed during the emotion's swift visit. Though she was very naïve to many earthly ways, the alien princess was no stranger to emotions -however strange Raven's situation might be- and Starfire had realized during Affection's stay that the darker girl was very fond of Beast Boy. The emotion had spoken nothing of anyone else in such a glowing manner that she had of their green teammate, and Starfire had to wonder if Affection's interests connected back to Raven with such a deep strength.

"Robin?" Starfire was asking her friend before she even had the time to think twice. She trusted Robin, however, enough to know that he wouldn't do anything to embarrass or humiliate Raven and Beast Boy because of her question. Upon seeing that she had Robin's attention, Starfire spoke. "Do you perhaps think that friend Raven-?"

"Yo team, I think Curious is switching out!" Cyborg interrupted, sitting up on the couch with his eyes directed at the dark girl nearby. Sure enough, Raven's body was motionless, her arms hanging limply by her sides and expression a blank slate. Cyborg got to his feet, approaching his other two teammates. "There was suddenly a wonderful silence in the room, so I figured that something must have happened," he explained, smirking.

Robin nodded, offering Starfire a hand down from the table. He observed Raven's still body. "Cyborg, earlier you said something about an emotion called Rage?"

Cyborg looked at his teammate curiously, a flicker of anxiety in his human eye at the mention of the hateful emotion. "Yeah? What about her? Why would you want to bring that girl up?"

The Titan's leader frowned, crossing his arms as he spoke his thoughts. "We haven't seen Rage yet; I'm slightly worried that she could be showing up soon. How many emotions have we seen? Five? Six? There can't be too many left."

Cyborg instantly saw the reasoning behind Robin's words, but that only served to make the spark of worry he'd experienced earlier enlarge in size. He shifted nervously, his body angled so he was partially behind Robin. "You've got a point man…" Before the teenagers could say anything else, Raven's head jerked up. Her eyes swiveled around the ops room, taking in the environment without a sound. The silence made the other three close by antsy. They had no idea what emotion they were dealing with, and if this happened to be Rage, it was best to approach with caution. Robin's words had set them all unintentionally on edge. The dark girl locked her sights on the Titans, and her eyes narrowed. Robin's hand inched toward his belt, Cyborg put his hand over his arm in preparation to change it into a canon, and Starfire lifted off of the ground. The emotion stared at them for a moment more before abruptly dropping to the ground in a sitting position. She leaned back, opening her mouth, and yawned. The Titans exchanged confused glances, a look that had become extremely frequent on their faces as of late.

"Uh, okay?" Cyborg lowered his hand from his arm, his teammates dropping their guarded stances as well. The emotion's eyes lethargically shifted to him, and she lifted an eyebrow. Cyborg winced. "Please tell me that you're not Rude _again_."

The girl burped.

"That didn't answer my question," Cyborg muttered, crossing his arms.

The emotion waved her hand a little. "Naw, I'm not Rude. I'm…," she interrupted herself with another yawn, and then followed with a stretch. "Ah," she continued, "I'm…" She blinked a few times.

"Sleepy?" Robin suggested.

Starfire brightened. "Like the dwarf from the White of Snow?"

The emotion shook her head, though whether it was in response to Starfire's question or just to keep herself awake, Robin wasn't sure. He hoped they didn't have a case of narcolepsy on their hands. They had enough trouble to deal with as was, let alone having to take care of a girl who fell asleep uncontrollably. Thankfully, the dark sorceress forced herself awake.

"Hm? What was I talking about?"

"Who you are. What emotion you are," Robin prompted.

"Ohhhh, right. I'm…" She rubbed her eyes. "Tell you what; how about you just guess and I'll let you know if you're right. Less work that way."

"Not for us," Cyborg grumbled. As he and his two other team members began to discuss possibilities of the emotion's title, for as long as the girl sat on the kitchen floor she wasn't causing any trouble and the teenagers had nothing really better to do, the dark sorceress's nose twitched. Turning toward the refrigerator, she sniffed the air. Her eyes brightened.

"Why do we even have to guess who she is? We've played this game with all of the other emotions already," Cyborg complained, frowning. Robin shook his head.

"Then it shouldn't be too much trouble to figure out who she is. We've already dealt with a good majority of emotions; there can't be too many left. Let's just use the process of elimination to get it over with quickly and easily. I already have a few ideas in mind." With those words, Robin turned around only to discover that the emotion he was about to address was no longer there. A click and clang caught his attention, and the team looked toward the refrigerator. Sat on the floor was the mystery emotion sucking on her finger, held in the crook of one of her arms a large, familiar bowl filled with goo. Robin and Cyborg gasped in synch, but Starfire gave a delighted squeal and swooped to the darker girl's side.

"You are enjoying my meal?" Starfire asked, her eyes bright and elated.

The emotion dipped her finger back in the alien princess's bowl and licked it. "Who wouldn't?" She shoved her goo-covered finger back into her mouth, making a slurping sound as she swallowed. Her face scrunched up temporarily in a frown. "Hm… Tastes peculiar." She shrugged, going back for more. "Just needs more salt."

Starfire couldn't have been more joyful; if she had been, she would have flown through the ceiling. All day she had been attempting to get someone to taste her meal, and here when she wasn't paying attention her friend had taken the initiative to do so without her noticing. Starfire smiled. "Glorious! I am filled with the joy that you enjoy my food!" She motioned to the two boys standing afar with shocked expressions. "Come friends! Would you not like to have some before it is all gone?"

Robin coughed and Cyborg actually took a step back. "No thanks, Star," the robotic teenager declined. "Our friend here seems to be enjoying herself too much to interrupt…"

Robin addressed the girl seated on the floor, her back leaned against the door of the open fridge. "You actually like Starfire's, dish… um…?"

"Sloth," the emotion replied without a thought to her response.

"A sloth?" Cyborg questioned, scratching his head. "Like that lazy thing Beast Boy turns into when he doesn't want to do his turn at laundry?"

"Uh huh," Sloth nodded. "Lazy. Except not the animal. I wish I was," she added as an afterthought. "Get to sit around, eat, sleep, wake up, eat some more, sleep some more, repeat." The boys watched as she swallowed the remaining contents of Starfire's alien meal, tipping the bowl back and then finishing with an eloquent burp. Not bothering to close the fridge's door, or even thinking to hand the empty dish to Starfire, Sloth dropped onto her back in the middle of the kitchen floor and shut her eyes. Moments later, a snore escaped her mouth.

While Starfire put her empty bowl into the sink and tried closing to fridge without disturbing the sleeping emotion, Cyborg and Robin carefully pulled Sloth up off of the tile floor and carried her to the couch. As they moved the girl, Cyborg sighed. "Man, this has been such a crazy day. I woke up this morning thinking I'd have breakfast, play a few video games, and then spend the rest of my time on my T-car. Never did I expect to have to deal with this kind of thing."

"We're heroes who live in a giant T and fight villains for a living; when have we ever had something go our way?" Robin asked. The two chuckled. "Besides, I'd feel grateful that you're not Raven right now. I'm sure she's having the hardest time out of all of us. I feel bad for her."

"I gotta agree with ya there," Cyborg agreed. "Having to deal with being trapped inside of her own mind, not to mention BB's in there, and her body's bein' taken over by her emotions, she's got to have it bad."

To his surprise, Robin shook his head. "No, what I meant was that when Raven is back in charge of her body, I'll feel bad for her. Anyone having eaten a whole bowl of Starfire's alien food is bound to have a horrible stomachache."


End file.
